[Polpol News] President Lee's Approval Rating Remains Steady... Real Estate Issues Emerge as Key Negative Factor

Shift from Ruling Party-Led Issues to Policy Criticism on Real Estate and Diplomacy
Democratic Party at 39%, People Power Party at 25%
Nuclear Power: 40% Favor Expansion, 37% Support Maintaining Current Level

After the Chuseok holiday, President Lee Jaemyung's approval rating has remained steady, according to a recent survey. Notably, while issues stemming from the ruling party had previously been a negative factor for his approval rating, diplomatic and real estate-related issues have now emerged as the main causes of decline.

According to a public opinion poll released by Gallup Korea on the 17th (conducted from October 14 to 16 via mobile phone interviews with 1,001 adults aged 18 and older nationwide; response rate: 12.1%; margin of error: ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level), the positive evaluation of President Lee's performance after the Chuseok holiday was 54%, a 1 percentage point decrease compared to the survey conducted three weeks ago (the fourth week of September). The negative evaluation rose by 1 percentage point to 35%.

While President Lee's approval rating itself did not change significantly, the reasons for negative evaluations shifted considerably. Before Chuseok, issues led by the ruling party-such as pressure on Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Heedae to resign, disputes over the truth, and changes in the court handling the insurrection case-were cited. This time, however, there was an increase in criticism related to diplomacy, China, and real estate. Although the impact of the October 15 real estate policy announcement was only partially reflected during the survey period, the proportion of respondents citing real estate policy as a reason for negative job performance rose to 5% (an increase of 4 percentage points), drawing attention.

Support for the Democratic Party of Korea was 39%, up 1 percentage point from the previous survey. Support for the People Power Party also rose by 1 percentage point to 25%.

Regarding next year’s local elections, 39% of respondents said the ruling party should become the majority, while 36% said the opposition should become the majority, indicating a close race. In particular, support for the ruling and opposition parties in Seoul and the metropolitan area was found to be nearly equal.

On the question of nuclear power generation, 40% favored expansion, 37% supported maintaining the current level, and 11% favored reduction. Regarding the legalization of same-sex marriage, 34% were in favor and 58% were opposed.

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