[Polpol News] President Yoon's Approval Rating Hits Lowest at 19%... Breaks 20% Threshold for First Time

Korea Gallup Poll Results from 29th to 31st
Top Negative Evaluation: 'Kim Geon-hee Issue'

A public opinion poll revealed that President Yoon Suk-yeol's job performance approval rating has dropped to the lowest level since his inauguration, falling into the 10% range.

According to a survey conducted by Gallup Korea from the 29th to the 31st of last month targeting 1,005 adults nationwide aged 18 and over, and announced on the 1st, President Yoon's job performance approval rating was recorded at 19%, down 1 percentage point from the previous week's survey. During the same period, the disapproval rating rose by 2 percentage points to 72%. Previously, President Yoon's job performance approval rating was recorded at 20% in the prior survey (October 25), marking the lowest point since his inauguration.

Gallup reported that the highest percentage of respondents who said President Yoon is "doing well" came from People Power Party supporters (44%). However, this figure declined by 4 percentage points compared to the previous survey (48%). Conversely, 93% of Democratic Party supporters responded that President Yoon is "doing poorly" in his job performance. Among supporters of the Innovation Party for the Nation, the disapproval rating reached 100%.

Among the 189 respondents who positively evaluated the job performance, 33% cited diplomacy and 8% mentioned the expansion of medical school quotas as reasons. However, President Yoon's approval rating was outpaced by disapproval ratings across all detailed indicators, including region, gender, age, and occupation.

Of the 720 respondents who disapproved, 17% pointed to the "Kim Keon-hee issue." This is a 2 percentage point increase from the previous survey (15%), suggesting that various suspicions surrounding Mrs. Kim have had an impact. Following this, 14% cited the economy, livelihood, and prices, and 7% responded that he is "generally doing poorly."

Looking at approval and disapproval ratings by region, Seoul recorded 22% approval and 66% disapproval, while Incheon and Gyeonggi showed 16% approval and 74% disapproval. The conservative-leaning Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions had 18% approval and 69% disapproval, and Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam also showed strong disapproval at 22% approval and 69% disapproval. Daejeon, Sejong, and Chungcheong recorded 29% approval and 63% disapproval, while Gwangju and Jeolla had 6% approval and 88% disapproval. By generation, disapproval ratings significantly exceeded approval ratings across all age groups, including those aged 70 and above (approval 41%, disapproval 47%).

Party support ratings rose by 2 percentage points each for the People Power Party and the Democratic Party compared to the previous week, both reaching 32%. The two parties have been in a close contest in the low 30% range since the fourth week of August. The Innovation Party for the Nation increased by 1 percentage point to 7%, while the Reform Party decreased by 2 percentage points to 2%. The proportion of respondents with no party preference remained unchanged at 25%.

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 11.1%. For more detailed information, please refer to the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission and Gallup Korea websites.