[Polpol News] Yoon's Approval Rating Hits New Low at 20%... 'Kim Yeo-sa Issue' Most Cited Reason for Negative Evaluation

Korea Gallup Poll Results from 22nd to 24th
Negative Ratings Lead Across All Age Groups Including Those in Their 70s

A public opinion poll revealed that President Yoon Suk-yeol's job approval rating has once again hit a post-inauguration low of 20%.

According to a survey conducted by Gallup Korea from the 22nd to the 24th among 1,001 adults nationwide aged 18 and older, and released on the 25th, President Yoon's job approval rating dropped 2 percentage points (p) from the previous week to 20%. During the same period, the disapproval rating rose by 1 percentage point to 70%. Previously, President Yoon's job approval rating had recorded a post-inauguration low of 20% in the second week of September.

Gallup reported that the highest percentage of respondents who said President Yoon is "doing well" came from supporters of the People Power Party (48%). However, this figure fell by 8 percentage points from the previous survey (56%). Conversely, 93% of Democratic Party supporters and 96% of Justice Innovation Party supporters responded that President Yoon is "doing poorly" in his job performance.

Among the 199 respondents who gave a positive evaluation of his job performance, 27% cited diplomacy and 9% cited national defense and security as reasons. This appears to reflect the impact of the presidential office's discussions on response measures, such as the immediate call for the withdrawal of North Korean troops deployed in Russia. President Yoon's approval rating showed negative evaluations surpassing positive ones across all detailed indicators including region, gender, age, and occupation.

Among the 698 respondents who gave a negative evaluation, 15% pointed to the 'Kim Geon-hee issue.' This is a 1 percentage point increase from the previous survey (14%), which is interpreted as being influenced by the sluggish clarification of allegations against Mrs. Kim. Following that, 14% cited the economy, livelihood, and inflation, and 12% cited poor communication. Gallup analyzed, "In most respondent characteristics, the proportion of those who said President Yoon is currently 'doing poorly' was high, exceeding 90% among Democratic Party supporters, progressive-leaning groups, and those in their 40s."

Looking at approval and disapproval ratings by region, Seoul recorded 17% and 75%, Incheon and Gyeonggi 18% and 73%, Daegu and Gyeongbuk 26% and 60%, Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam 27% and 59%, Daejeon, Sejong, and Chungcheong 20% and 68%, and Gwangju and Jeolla 12% and 79%, respectively. By generation, even among those aged 70 and above, who tend to be conservative (approval 41%, disapproval 43%), disapproval was high. In all other age groups, disapproval significantly outpaced approval.

Party support ratings showed the People Power Party rising 2 percentage points from the previous week to 30%, while the Democratic Party remained steady at 30%. The two parties have been in a close race since the fourth week of July. The Justice Innovation Party dropped 2 percentage points to 6%, and the Reform New Party rose 1 percentage point to 4%. The proportion of respondents with no party preference remained unchanged at 27%.

This survey was conducted via telephone interviews using randomly selected wireless phone virtual numbers. The margin of error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, and the response rate was 12.4%. For more details, refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission and Gallup Korea websites.