KSOI "President Yoon's Approval Rating Declines, Positive Evaluation 42.8% < Negative Evaluation 51.9%"

39.1% Say NATO Summit Had Achievements, 47.4% Say No Achievements
Democratic Party Convention: Lee Jae-myung - Park Yong-jin - Kim Min-seok in Order

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] A public opinion poll revealed that the so-called ‘dead cross’ phenomenon, where negative evaluations of government performance surpass positive evaluations, has intensified. While positive evaluations are declining, negative evaluations are on the rise. Regarding President Yoon’s attendance at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, his first multilateral diplomatic stage, the prevailing public opinion was that there were no achievements.

According to a public opinion poll conducted by the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI) commissioned by TBS on the 4th (conducted via wireless ARS method targeting 1,002 adults aged 18 and over nationwide from the 1st to 2nd), positive evaluations of President Yoon’s government stood at 42.8%, while negative evaluations were 51.9%. Last week’s poll showed a dead cross with negative evaluations exceeding positive ones by 0.6%, but this time the gap widened to 9.1 percentage points.

The causes of the decline in government approval ratings were cited as internal conflicts within the ruling party (24.5%), inadequate economic measures against high inflation (21.4%), policy instability due to confusion between the president and ministries over major policies such as working hours (15.6%), controversies over allegations and retaliatory investigations related to the previous government including the civil servant shooting incident (15.4%), and the president’s wife’s actions overturning her previously quiet support role (13.8%).

Regarding attendance at the NATO summit, 47.4% gave a negative evaluation saying ‘there were no achievements,’ while 39.1% responded positively that ‘there were achievements.’

In party support ratings, the People Power Party recorded 40.9%, down 3.5 percentage points from last week. The Democratic Party recorded 35.6%, up 4.1 percentage points.

In a poll asking who is suitable as the next leader of the Democratic Party, Representative Lee Jae-myung led with 35.7%. He was followed by Democratic Party Representative Park Yong-jin at 16.8%, Representative Kim Min-seok at 6.0%, and Representatives Jeon Jae-soo and Kang Byung-won each at 3.4%. The response ‘no suitable candidate’ was 18.7%. However, when limited to Democratic Party supporters, Representative Lee led significantly with 72.7%, followed by Park at 8.0% and Kim Min-seok at 3.7%.

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