[Polpol News] People Power Party Approval Rating Rises for 3 Consecutive Weeks... Up 3.8%p to 34.4%

Realmeter Poll
People Power Party Approval Rating Recovers to Pre-Martial Law Level

During the impeachment crisis of President Yoon Suk-yeol, the support rate for the People Power Party showed an upward trend for three consecutive weeks.

In a public opinion poll released on the 6th by the polling firm Realmeter (conducted on December 2-3 with 1,001 voters aged 18 and over, 97% wireless and 3% wired ARS survey, with a sampling error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, and a response rate of 4.9%), the support rate for the People Power Party rose by 3.8 percentage points to 34.4%. The support rate for the Democratic Party of Korea fell by 0.6 percentage points from the previous week to 45.2%.

The People Power Party’s support rate had recorded mid-20% levels during the declaration and lifting of martial law and President Yoon’s impeachment (26.2% in the first week of December, 25.7% in the second week of December), but has since recovered and currently stands in the mid-30% range. In contrast, the Democratic Party’s support rate has declined from the low 50% range (52.4% in the second week of December) to the mid-40% range. Thus, the support trends of both major parties have returned to the levels seen before the martial law declaration.

Regarding preferences for the next presidential election, calls for a regime change by the opposition remain strong, but the intensity has decreased compared to one week ago. In this survey, the proportion of respondents supporting a regime change by the opposition fell by 1.9 percentage points from the previous week to 58.5%. Meanwhile, those agreeing with the ruling party’s continuation in power rose by 2.5 percentage points to 34.7%.

The weekly approval ratings for President Yoon, which had been regularly released, have not been conducted recently. Polling firms such as Realmeter and Gallup, which regularly conducted and announced approval ratings since his inauguration, explained, “Due to the passage of the presidential impeachment motion, polling will be suspended until the Constitutional Court’s ruling. If the impeachment is upheld and the president is removed, polling will not resume; if the impeachment is dismissed and the president returns to office, polling will resume.”

Meanwhile, respondents to the survey cited President Yoon’s martial law and impeachment as the most memorable moments of last year, with 64.2% selecting this. This was followed by the Muan Airport Jeju Air passenger plane accident at 10.2%, the U.S. presidential election with Trump’s victory at 5.3%, the medical school enrollment conflict and medical crisis at 5.3%, and the opposition’s landslide victory in the 22nd general election at 3.4%.

For more details, please refer to the website of the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission.