President Yoon's Approval Rating Rises 3%p to 28%, Ending Decline... "Second Lowest at 100 Days in Office"

Negative evaluation drops 2%p to 64%
Negative evaluation dominant in all age groups except 70s
Party support: People Power Party 36%, Democratic Party 34%

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] President Yoon Suk-yeol's job performance rating has risen for two consecutive weeks. After showing a downward trend since June, the approval rating appears to have bottomed out and is rebounding. However, when looking at the approval rating at 100 days after inauguration, it was found to be the second lowest among all presidents since the introduction of the direct presidential election system, following former President Lee Myung-bak.

According to a regular public opinion poll released on the 19th by Gallup (conducted via telephone interviews with 1,000 adults nationwide aged 18 and over from the 16th to the 18th), 28% responded that President Yoon is "doing well" in his job performance, while 64% responded that he is "doing poorly."

Compared to last week's survey, positive evaluations increased by 3 percentage points, and negative evaluations decreased by 2 percentage points. President Yoon's job performance rating, which had been declining since the local elections, hit bottom at 24% in the second week of August, then improved to 25% last week (third week of August), and 28% this week (fourth week of August).

Gallup explained, "(President Yoon) outlined his national agenda through the Liberation Day speech on the 15th and the 100-day inauguration press conference on the 17th," adding, "In the past, such forms of communication mainly attracted attention and positive responses from existing supporters."

However, except for those aged 70 and above, the public opinion that he is performing poorly in his duties remained dominant. The approval ratings for national administration among those in their 20s and 30s were 18%, 14% for those in their 40s, and 25% for those in their 50s. It was 43% for those in their 60s and 57% for those aged 70 and above.

Since the introduction of the direct presidential election system in 1987, compared to the job performance evaluations around 100 days after inauguration of past presidents, President Yoon's job performance rating is the second lowest approval rating following former President Lee Myung-bak's 21%. According to Gallup's survey, the president with the highest approval rating around 100 days after inauguration was former President Kim Young-sam (83%), followed by former President Moon Jae-in (78%) and former President Kim Dae-jung (62%).

In terms of party support, the People Power Party's approval rating was 36%, and the Democratic Party's was 34%. The Democratic Party's support dropped by 3 percentage points, while the People Power Party's rose by 2 percentage points.

For detailed survey methodology and results related to the public opinion poll, please refer to the website of the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission.