'Red Light' on President Yoon's Approval Rating... 'Significant Conservative Base Defection' [Polpol News]

Lowest Approval Rating Since Inauguration in Gallup Poll
Approval at 21%, Disapproval at 70%

President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating for his administration has hit a new low since taking office. With little sign of recovery following the general election defeat, a red light has been lit for securing momentum in governance. Compared to before the election, there has been a significant departure among the conservative base, which was a core support group for President Yoon.

According to a regular public opinion poll conducted by Gallup from the 28th to the 30th of last month (a wireless phone interview survey of 1,001 people aged 18 and over nationwide), President Yoon's approval rating fell by 3 percentage points from the previous week's survey to 21%. The disapproval rating rose by 3 percentage points to 70%.

This newly released approval rating is the lowest since his inauguration. It is also the first time the disapproval rating has exceeded 60% to reach 70%. President Yoon's approval rating has been stagnant in the low 20% range after plummeting from 34% (4th week of March) to 23% (3rd week of April) following the general election defeat.

In particular, the defection of the core support base that had upheld President Yoon's approval rating has continued for a long time. This is evident when compared to the last regular survey before the general election in the 4th week of March. The most notable changes over the two-month period are the sharp deterioration in the support of conservatives, those aged 70 and over, People Power Party supporters, and voters in the metropolitan area.

In terms of political orientation, those who identified themselves as conservatives saw their support shrink sharply from 65% to 38% over two months. Until now, conservatives consistently had more positive than negative evaluations, but in this survey, negative evaluations at 54% outnumbered positive ones.

Among supporters of the People Power Party, President Yoon's original party, support was overwhelmingly positive with 79% approving of his governance, but now the approval rating has dropped to 55%. Unlike all other age groups, those aged 70 and over had shown steady support for President Yoon, with positive evaluations of governance at 65% before the election, but this has now fallen to 49%.

Support in Seoul has also changed. In the 4th week of March, Seoul's approval rating was 39%, exceeding the national average of 34%. However, now Seoul's approval rating is 17%, failing to reach the national average.

Kim Bong-shin, director at Metavoice, commented on the Gallup poll, saying, "After hitting the lowest point immediately following the general election, the rating had plateaued but has now hit a new low again," adding, "Now it faces a situation where the 20% threshold cannot be defended and may be breached." Director Kim diagnosed, "The conservative support base, which had been a strong ally of President Yoon, is weakening, and despite various efforts such as the post-election summit and press conferences, all remedies have been ineffective."