Lee Jae-myung's Position Divides Public Opinion... Resignation 50.4% vs Staying in Office 42.8%

Media Tomato Poll
46.9% Say Rejection of Arrest Consent is the Right Decision vs 46.7% Say It Is the Wrong Decision

Public opinion regarding the position of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, appears to be evenly divided. Positive evaluations of President Yoon Suk-yeol have slightly increased.

According to a public opinion poll released by Media Tomato on the 3rd (conducted by wireless ARS from the 28th of last month to the 1st of this month over two days, targeting 1,040 adults aged 18 and over nationwide, commissioned by News Tomato), 50.4% of respondents said that Lee Jae-myung should resign in response to questions about the future of the Democratic Party system following the turmoil caused by the vote on the arrest motion against Lee. On the other hand, 42.8% expressed the opinion that Lee's leadership should continue. Although the resignation opinion is larger, considering the margin of error (±3.0 percentage points at a 95% confidence level), public opinion is essentially split in half.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Notably, among those who identified their political orientation as moderate, 39.5% said Lee's leadership should be maintained, while 47.9% said he should resign. Among progressives, 75.2% favored continuation, whereas 82.1% of conservatives expressed resignation opinions. With resignation opinions prevailing among moderates, the overall resignation sentiment was stronger.

Regarding the National Assembly's rejection of the arrest motion against Lee, 46.9% of respondents said it was the right decision, but 46.7% said it was the wrong decision, showing a close split. Among moderates, 45.4% considered it the right decision, while 43.3% thought it was wrong.

As for President Yoon's administration, positive evaluations stood at 40.2% (14.6% very well, 25.6% generally well), and negative evaluations at 57.1% (46.4% very poorly, 10.7% generally poorly). The positive evaluation of President Yoon rose by 1.7 percentage points from last week (38.5%). In party support, the Democratic Party's approval rating increased by 0.1 percentage points from last week to 44.0%, while the People Power Party rose by 1.7 percentage points to 43.2%.

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