Lee's Approval Rating Rises for Second Week to 53.6%... Diplomatic Achievements Boost Support in TK and Among Conservatives [PolPol News]

Realmeter Poll Shows Shift in Public Sentiment
Negative Assessment Declines After Four-Week Rise
Democratic Party at 46.7%, People Power Party at 36.1%

President Lee Jaemyung's approval rating for his administration has risen for the second consecutive week. The negative assessment of his administration, which had been increasing for four consecutive weeks, has now started to decline.

According to a public opinion poll released by Realmeter on September 1 (commissioned by Energy Economy News and conducted from August 25 to 29 among 2,537 people aged 18 and older nationwide, using a 100% wireless automated response method, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points at a 95% confidence level and a response rate of 5.1%), President Lee's approval rating for his administration reached 53.6%, up 2.2 percentage points from the previous week. After a period of decline, President Lee's approval rating began to rebound slightly in the third week of August and has now risen for two consecutive weeks.

The negative assessment is particularly noteworthy. After recording 31.4% in the fifth week of July and rising for four consecutive weeks to 44.9% in the third week of August, the negative assessment dropped to 42.3% in this survey.

Realmeter analyzed, "This week's approval rating appears to reflect positive evaluations of President Lee's visit to the United States for the Korea-U.S. summit and the resulting economic diplomacy achievements. Notably, there was a significant increase in support in the Daegu-Gyeongbuk (TK) region and among conservatives, suggesting that the diplomatic and economic accomplishments have been positively received by the public beyond political divides." In fact, support in the TK region rose by 9.1 percentage points (from 35.1% to 44.2%), and support among conservatives increased by 5.7 percentage points (from 22.7% to 28.4%).

In the party support poll (commissioned by Energy Economy News and conducted from August 28 to 29 among 1,006 people aged 18 and older nationwide, using a 100% wireless automated response method, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level and a response rate of 5.1%), the Democratic Party's support rose by 0.9 percentage points from the previous week to 46.7%. Support for the People Power Party was recorded at 36.1%, up 0.6 percentage points.

For more detailed information regarding the public opinion polls, please refer to the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.