"President Lee’s Approval Rating Falls for Two Consecutive Weeks...
A Serious Concern"
"Cho Kuk Should Show Consideration for the Ruling Party"
Following the pardon and reinstatement of former National Innovation Party leader Cho Kuk, approval ratings for President Lee Jaemyung and the Democratic Party of Korea have plummeted. In response, former Democratic Party lawmaker Park Yongjin remarked, "The impact is greater and lasting longer than expected."
Former Cho Kuk, former leader of the National Innovation Party, is paying respects at the burial site of former President Kim Daejung at the National Seoul Memorial Cemetery in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, on the 18th. Photo by Yonhap News
On August 19, during an appearance on SBS Radio’s ‘Kim Taehyun’s Political Show,’ Park stated, “According to Realmeter’s survey regarding President Lee’s approval rating, there has been a downward trend for two consecutive weeks. The total drop over the two weeks exceeds 10%. This is a serious matter.”
He continued, “It’s not just a 1-2% decrease; the situation shows a significant trend. This will be a considerable burden on state affairs going forward.” Park emphasized, “Rather than just saying that President Lee Jaemyung must succeed, I hope former leader Cho Kuk will reflect deeply and show some consideration for the ruling party as well.”
Regarding Cho’s comment that the decline in President Lee’s approval rating after his pardon was “about one out of N parts” attributable to him, Park responded, “That’s inappropriate,” and pointed out, “He is significantly downplaying his own influence.”
Park added, “I’m not asking him to do anything immediately, but I hope he will refine his public message by understanding that the drop in the Democratic Party’s approval rating and the burden on state affairs are related to his own issues.” Park said, “It would be right for him to say, ‘Because of me, there was a national controversy and some people were hurt, and I apologize for that. I will take clear responsibility for this and strive to engage in good politics.’”
President Lee’s job approval rating has declined for two consecutive weeks. According to a Realmeter poll commissioned by Energy Economy News and conducted from August 11 to 14 among 2,003 voters aged 18 and older nationwide, 51.1% of respondents rated President Lee’s performance as positive. This represents a 5.4 percentage point drop from the previous week, marking the lowest approval rating since President Lee took office.
In a separate party approval rating survey conducted on August 13-14 among 1,001 voters aged 18 and older nationwide, the Democratic Party recorded 39.9%, an 8.5 percentage point decrease from the previous week.
The margin of error for the presidential approval rating survey is ±2.2 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, and for the party approval rating survey, it is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. The response rates were 5.2% and 4.7%, respectively. For more details, refer to the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.
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