No Lame Duck: President Moon's 5th Year Q4 Average Approval Rating at 42%... 'Highest Ever'

Yoon President-elect's Government Expectation Remains at 55% as Last Week... Negative Ratings Increase by 1%

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] President Moon Jae-in is expected to become the first president who does not fall into a 'lame duck' status even at the end of his term. President Moon's approval rating in the fourth quarter of his fifth year in office averaged 42%, marking the highest ever recorded. President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol's approval rating remained steady at 55%, continuing from last week.

According to a public opinion poll released by Gallup on the 1st (conducted nationwide from the 29th to the 31st of last month, targeting 1,001 people aged 18 and over, via telephone interviews), 42% responded that President Moon is performing well in state affairs, while 49% said he is performing poorly. Both positive and negative evaluations decreased by 2 percentage points compared to last week.

Notably, when looking at the average approval rating for the fourth quarter of the fifth year in office from January to March this year, it was the highest among presidents elected by direct vote since the constitutional amendment. Former President Roh Tae-woo had 12%, former President Kim Young-sam 6%, former President Kim Dae-jung 24%, former President Roh Moo-hyun 27%, and former President Lee Myung-bak 24%. Former President Park Geun-hye's evaluation was discontinued due to impeachment proceedings.

In the poll regarding whether President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol will perform well in state affairs over the next five years, 55% of respondents answered affirmatively. This is the same result as last week's survey. The percentage of those who thought he would perform poorly increased by 1 percentage point to 41% compared to last week.

Party approval ratings showed a tie, with both the Democratic Party and the People Power Party recording 36%. The Democratic Party's approval rating dropped by 1 percentage point, and the People Power Party's by 2 percentage points, resulting in a tie. Among politically highly interested groups, both parties also tied at 1%. The Justice Party had 5%, the People Party 4%, and the non-affiliated group with no party preference was 19%.

The margin of error for this poll is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For detailed survey information, please refer to the website of the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission.