People Power Party Trails Democratic Party in Approval Ratings for the First Time Since Yoon Seok-yeol Government Inauguration
Negative Ratings High Across All Age Groups Except 70 and Above
Even Conservative Respondents Show Higher Negative Ratings
[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating for his national administration continues to plummet without finding a bottom. The ruling party's approval rating has also declined, and for the first time since the new government took office, the Democratic Party of Korea has surpassed the People Power Party in approval ratings.
According to a regular public opinion poll released by Gallup on the 5th (a telephone survey conducted by interviewers nationwide from the 2nd to the 4th with more than 1,001 people aged 18 and older), 24% of respondents said President Yoon is performing his duties well, while 66% said he is performing poorly. Compared to last week's survey, the positive rating dropped by 4 percentage points, and the negative rating rose by 4 percentage points.
President Yoon's approval rating peaked at 53% in the second week of June and has been on a downward trend since then.
In particular, this survey showed that negative evaluations outnumbered positive ones in all age groups except those aged 70 and above. Only 26% of people in their 20s, 13% in their 30s, 10% in their 40s, 24% in their 50s, and 35% in their 60s said President Yoon is performing well. Among those in their 70s, 42% responded positively, surpassing the negative evaluation of 37%.
This survey also drew attention as even conservative respondents, who had been President Yoon's core supporters, showed more negative than positive evaluations. In the previous survey, although President Yoon lagged behind in the moderate and progressive groups, he recorded a positive rating of 51% among conservatives, surpassing the negative rating of 42%. However, in this survey, even among conservatives, the positive rating was 44%, trailing the negative rating of 48%.
Those who evaluated his job performance positively cited reasons such as "working hard/doing his best" (6%), "overcoming the previous administration," "economy and livelihood," and "principles and conviction" (5%). However, the reason "fairness, justice, and principles," which was the biggest reason for support until last week, dropped to 3%. Among those who positively evaluated his job performance, the largest group responded with "don't know" or refused to answer (28%).
Those who evaluated him negatively cited reasons such as "personnel appointments" (23%), "lack of experience, qualifications, incompetence" (10%), "arbitrary and unilateral" (8%), "lack of communication" (7%), "generally doing poorly" (6%), "pushing for elementary school admission at age five," and "not paying attention to economy and livelihood" (both 5%).
President Yoon's approval rating reveals a more serious situation compared to previous administrations. During the third week of October 2016, when suspicions of Choi Soon-sil's interference in state affairs surfaced during former President Park Geun-hye's administration, the positive job performance rating was 25%. For President Moon Jae-in, even at his lowest approval rating near the end of his term, it was 29%.
The 18th president recorded a similar job performance rating during the third week of October 2016 when suspicions of state interference intensified (positive 25%, negative 64% → Daily Issue No. 232). The 19th president's lowest positive rating during the term was 29% (fifth week of April 2021).
According to a public opinion poll conducted by Media Tomato on behalf of News Tomato from the 1st to the 3rd, surveying 1,315 men and women aged 18 and older nationwide, President Yoon's positive evaluation of national administration was 32.1% (16.8% very well, 15.3% somewhat well), and negative evaluation was 65.8% (9.9% somewhat poorly, 55.9% very poorly). In last week's survey, those who evaluated President Yoon's national administration positively were 36.0% (26.3% well, 9.7% somewhat well), and those who evaluated negatively were 62.0% (6.1% somewhat poorly, 55.9% poorly). Positive evaluation dropped by 3.9%, while negative evaluation increased by 3.8%.
Regarding the question about responsibility for the recent crisis in the ruling party, 52.9% responded that President Yoon is responsible. Public opinion holding Kwon Seong-dong, acting party leader and floor leader of the People Power Party, and Yoon's close associates responsible was 19.4%, and 18.6% said Lee Jun-seok, the People Power Party leader, was responsible.
The People Power Party's approval rating also declined simultaneously. Compared to the previous survey, the People Power Party's approval rating dropped by 2 percentage points to 34%. During the same period, the Democratic Party's approval rating rose by 3 percentage points to 39%. As a result, the People Power Party's approval rating, which had consistently led since the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol government, fell behind the Democratic Party for the first time.
For detailed survey outlines and results related to the public opinion polls, please refer to the website of the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
