Fatigue over 'Opposition Money Envelope and Yoon's Diplomatic Controversy'... Nonpartisan Ratio Hits Highest in 2 Years 3 Months

Gallup Regular Poll
President Yoon's Approval Rating Rises 4%p to 31%
Democratic Party 32%, People Power Party 32%, Independents 31%

In the midst of the party convention money envelope controversy, the support rate for the Democratic Party of Korea showed a significant decline. President Yoon Seok-yeol, who had shown support rates in the 20% range in the previous survey, recovered to the 30% range. The proportion of non-partisan voters who do not support either the ruling or opposition parties reached its highest level in 2 years and 3 months.

According to Gallup's regular public opinion survey conducted from the 18th to the 20th (a telephone interviewer survey of 1,002 adults aged 18 and over nationwide), the Democratic Party's support rate recorded 32%, down 4 percentage points from the previous survey. The People Power Party's support rate rose by 1 percentage point to 32%. The proportion of non-partisan voters increased by 2 percentage points to 31%.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 21st. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

It appears that the Democratic Party's support rate was significantly affected by the controversy over 'money envelopes' involving former Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil's faction, which won the 2021 party convention. Although the People Power Party also experienced a series of controversies involving its top committee members, it seems to have benefited from the Democratic Party's money envelope scandal.

What draws attention is the proportion of non-partisan voters. In this survey, the non-partisan group recorded a level (31%) similar to the support rates of the two major parties, which is the highest since the fourth week of January 2021 (31%). This is interpreted as voters disappointed with the two major parties becoming non-partisan. Among the centrist voters, who hold the casting vote in next year's general election and other elections, the proportion of non-partisans is high. Gallup explained, "Among centrists, 25% supported the People Power Party, 28% supported the Democratic Party of Korea, and 41% were voters who did not support any particular party."

President Yoon Seok-yeol's approval rating for his state affairs performance rose by 4 percentage points from the previous survey to 31%. The negative evaluation that President Yoon is performing poorly in state affairs dropped by 5 percentage points to 60%. Both the positive and negative evaluations of President Yoon's state affairs performance cited 'diplomacy' as the most significant reason. Among those who gave positive evaluations (312 respondents, open-ended), diplomacy (12%), labor union response (8%), and overall good performance (7%) were cited as reasons. Conversely, among those who gave negative evaluations (599 respondents, open-ended), diplomacy (32%) and economy, livelihood, and prices (8%) were cited as reasons. Gallup explained, "Diplomacy has ranked highest for two consecutive months among the reasons for positive and negative evaluations of the president's approval rating," adding, "Direct mentions related to Japan are gradually decreasing." The interpretation of President Yoon's diplomatic policy clearly differs between supporters and non-supporters.

For detailed survey outlines and results related to the public opinion survey, please refer to the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.