President Yoon's Approval Rating at 39.0%, Rising for 4 Consecutive Weeks
Prime Minister Kishida Recovers to 50% Range After 8 Months
At the Group of Seven (G7) summit held in Hiroshima, Japan, the South Korean and Japanese leaders experienced a favorable wind with a simultaneous rise in approval ratings. President Yoon Suk-yeol saw his approval rating increase for the fourth consecutive week. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also experienced a positive effect, surpassing a 50% approval rating.
According to a survey conducted by Realmeter commissioned by Media Tribune from the 15th to the 19th, targeting 2,504 voters aged 18 and over nationwide, President Yoon's positive evaluation of his administration rose by 2.2 percentage points (p) from the previous week to 39.0%. This marks a four-week consecutive upward trend since the South Korea-U.S. summit at the end of last month.
Negative evaluations decreased by 2.9%p to 57.9% compared to the previous survey. This is the first time in about two months that negative ratings have dropped from the 60% range to the 50% range.
Senior Expert Bae Cheol-ho of Realmeter stated, "A four-week consecutive rise in weekly aggregated data is the first since the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration," adding, "Issues in diplomacy and security, which once suppressed approval ratings, have instead become major factors in the government's evaluation, along with attendance at the Gwangju May 18 Memorial Ceremony and consecutive mistakes by the Democratic Party."
Positive evaluations mainly increased in Daejeon, Sejong, Chungcheong regions, Seoul, among people in their 20s and 30s, and conservative groups. The margin of error for this survey is ±2.0%p at a 95% confidence level. The survey was conducted with 97% mobile and 3% landline methods, with a response rate of 3.2%. For more details, refer to the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kishida's approval rating also rose significantly within a month. The Yomiuri Shimbun reported on the 22nd that a telephone survey conducted from the 20th to 21st targeting 161 voters aged 18 and over nationwide showed that the approval rating of the cabinet led by Prime Minister Kishida rose by 9%p from the previous month to 56%.
In the Yomiuri Shimbun survey, the Kishida cabinet's approval rating recovering to the 50% range is the first time in eight months. The percentage of respondents who disapprove was 33%.
The Yomiuri Shimbun analyzed that "the diplomatic achievements at the G7 summit held in Hiroshima and the easing of COVID-19 quarantine policies appear to have been positively evaluated."
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