[Polpol News] Yoon's Approval Rating at 27% Despite Summit... 'NBS Lowest Level Since Inauguration Continues'

No Change in Approval Ratings and Polls from Two Weeks Ago
Only 29% Responded Correctly on National Administration Direction Survey

President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating for his national administration has shown little change since the general election defeat. However, trust in the direction of government operations has rapidly declined, according to the survey.

According to the National Barometer Survey (NBS) conducted from April 29 to May 1 by polling firms Embrain Public, K-Stat Research, Korea Research, and Hankook Research, which surveyed 1,000 men and women aged 18 and older nationwide via virtual phone number interviews, President Yoon's approval rating remained at 27%, unchanged from two weeks prior, following the general election defeat. Negative evaluations that the administration is performing poorly also remained steady at 64%. After the general election loss, President Yoon's approval rating dropped by 11 percentage points and has not shown signs of recovery since. The current approval rating continues to be the lowest level recorded since NBS began tracking President Yoon's approval.

After the election defeat, President Yoon took steps such as holding his first ruling-opposition party leaders' meeting since taking office and replacing the Chief Presidential Secretary, signaling a shift in government policy direction. However, public opinion has yet to change. This contrasts with the usual pattern where approval ratings recover after post-election recovery measures are implemented.

In a survey on the direction of government operations conducted one month after the first week of April, only 29% of respondents believed the government was heading in the right direction, while 60% thought it was moving in the wrong direction. Positive evaluations of the government's direction dropped by 11 percentage points within a month.

Kim Bong-shin, director of Metavoice, said, "This means the ruling-opposition leaders' meeting had no effect at all," adding, "It can only be seen as a negative signal."

President Yoon Suk-yeol and Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, are taking a commemorative photo after the summit meeting held on the 29th of last month at the Yongsan Presidential Office building in Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

In party support, the People Power Party received 31%, the Democratic Party of Korea 29%, the Innovation Party 12%, and the Reform Party 4%. However, in terms of party favorability, the Democratic Party had the highest favorability at 47% among respondents. The People Power Party had 34%, the Green Justice Party 16%, the Innovation Party 42%, and the Reform Party 22% favorability ratings.

Regarding current political issues, opinions on the livelihood recovery support fund proposed by the Democratic Party and others were evenly split, with 46% in favor and 48% opposed. However, 67% of respondents supported the special prosecutor law concerning allegations of investigation interference in the death of Chae Sang-byeong, while only 17% opposed it.

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