Gallup "Yoon's Approval Rating Drops 3%P to 30%... Democratic Party Surpasses Ruling Party for First Time in 4 Months"

President's Approval Rating Falls to 30% After 6 Months

President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating for his national administration has slightly declined compared to the previous survey, approaching the 20% range. In party support ratings, the Democratic Party of Korea has overtaken the People Power Party for the first time in about six months.

According to Gallup's regular public opinion survey conducted from the 17th to the 19th of this month (a telephone interview survey of 1,000 adults aged 18 and over nationwide), 30% of respondents said President Yoon is currently "doing well" in his duties, while 61% responded negatively, saying he is "doing poorly." Compared to the previous survey conducted in the second week of October, the positive evaluation rate decreased by 3 percentage points, while the negative evaluation rate increased by the same amount.

The president's job approval rating falling to 30% is the lowest in six months. Following the lowest figure this year in the second week of April (27%), the approval ratings for the third and fourth weeks of April were 31% and 30%, respectively. At that time, controversies arose over diplomatic issues such as Japan's forced labor compensation and U.S. surveillance of allied countries.

Among those who negatively evaluated President Yoon, the most cited reason was "economy/livelihood/prices" (17%). Since the end of last month after Chuseok, economic-related criticisms have ranked first as the reason for negative evaluations for two consecutive weeks. This was followed by "authoritarian/unilateral" (10%), "lack of communication" (9%), "generally doing poorly," "lack of unity and cooperation" (both 6%), "lack of experience/competence" and "personnel appointments" (both 4%), and "Fukushima contaminated water discharge issue" (3%).

In fact, pessimism about the economy has approached the highest level in the past three years. When Gallup asked about the outlook for South Korea's economy over the next year in this survey, 62% predicted it would "worsen," while only 14% said it would "improve." Twenty-two percent expected it to "remain the same." Economic pessimism is at its highest level since October 2022, and optimism is also near a three-year high (11% in October-November 2022).

In party support ratings, the Democratic Party of Korea stood at 34%, and the People Power Party at 33%, marking the opposition party's lead for the first time in four surveys since the fifth week of June. The Justice Party's support was 3%, non-partisan voters 28%, and others 2%.

By age group, the People Power Party was dominant among those aged 60 and over, while the Democratic Party was stronger among those aged 50 and under. By political orientation, 67% of conservatives supported the People Power Party, and 65% of progressives supported the Democratic Party. Among moderates, 23% supported the People Power Party, 31% the Democratic Party, and 40% said they did not support any party.

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