'Jeong Sun-shin Incident' Still Unreflected... Ruling Party's Approval Rating Turns Down After One Week

Realmeter Poll Results
"Democratic Party 43.9%, People Power Party 42.2%"
Democrats 'Rebound' Amid Lee Jae-myung Arrest Motion Political Turmoil

The support rate for the Democratic Party of Korea has once again surpassed that of the People Power Party. After trailing the People Power Party beyond the margin of error for the first time in eight months since the local elections, the Democratic Party has now overtaken the People Power Party within the margin of error in just one week. President Yoon Seok-yeol's approval rating, which had recovered to the 40% range, remained unchanged from last week.

According to the regular public opinion poll conducted by Realmeter on the 27th (commissioned by Media Tribune and conducted from the 20th to the 24th nationwide among 2,509 adults aged 18 and over using an ARS automated response method), the Democratic Party's support rate rose by 4.0 percentage points from the previous survey to record 43.9%, securing first place. The People Power Party fell by 2.8 percentage points to 42.2%. In last week's poll, the People Power Party led by 5.1 percentage points, but in this poll, the Democratic Party led by 1.7 percentage points.

The Democratic Party's support rate showed an increase of more than 5% in regions and demographics such as Daegu·Gyeongbuk (up 8.1 percentage points), Daejeon·Sejong·Chungcheong (up 7.7 percentage points), Busan·Ulsan·Gyeongnam (up 7.2 percentage points), Gwangju·Jeolla (up 5.6 percentage points), Seoul (up 5.4 percentage points), women (up 6.7 percentage points), people in their 40s (up 12.5 percentage points), people in their 60s (up 6.8 percentage points), people in their 30s (up 6.1 percentage points), people in their 20s (up 5.0 percentage points), and progressives (up 5.7 percentage points). Conversely, the People Power Party's support rate declined in Busan·Ulsan·Gyeongnam (down 7.9 percentage points), Daejeon·Sejong·Chungcheong (down 7.8 percentage points), Daegu·Gyeongbuk (down 5.8 percentage points), women (down 6.5 percentage points), people in their 40s (down 8.6 percentage points), people in their 30s (down 6.6 percentage points), people in their 60s (down 6.3 percentage points), and people in their 20s (down 5.9 percentage points).

It is noteworthy that the Democratic Party's support rate turned upward despite the submission of a motion to arrest Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung to the National Assembly. On the other hand, the People Power Party, which had been enjoying a convention effect, saw its support rate decline amid intensified attacks among candidates during the party convention period and growing fatigue over allegations such as the KTX Ulsan land controversy involving party leader candidate Kim Ki-hyun.

President Yoon's approval rating for his administration remained at 40.4%, the same as last week. After showing support rates in the mid-to-high 30% range earlier this year, President Yoon's approval rating has been in the 40% range since the third week of February.

However, this poll result does not reflect the controversy surrounding lawyer Jeong Soon-shin, who was appointed and then had his appointment canceled as head of the National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters. It was revealed that Jeong's son committed school violence during high school, and Jeong fought a legal battle up to the Supreme Court to prevent forced transfer, leading to Jeong's resignation.

For more details, please refer to the website of the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission.