[Polpol News] President Lee's Approval Rating at 53.2%... Slight Decline for Third Consecutive Week

Realmeter Poll Shows 0.2%p Drop from Previous Week
Mixed Evaluations: Livelihood Policies vs. Political Confrontation
Gap Between Democratic Party and People Power Party Widens to 8.8%p

President Lee Jaemyung's approval rating for his handling of state affairs has shown a slight decline for the third consecutive week, continuing its sideways trend.

According to a public opinion poll released by Realmeter on the 29th (conducted from the 22nd to the 26th, targeting 2,009 voters aged 18 and older nationwide, using a 100% wireless automated response method, with a margin of error of ±2.2 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, and a response rate of 4.6%), President Lee's approval rating for state affairs stood at 53.2%, down 0.2 percentage points from the previous survey. The disapproval rating remained unchanged from last week at 42.2%. President Lee's approval rating has been moving sideways in the low to mid-50% range for seven consecutive weeks.

Realmeter explained, "Positive factors included on-site communication activities such as the opening of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries office and a luncheon with public officials who died in the line of duty, as well as livelihood and economic policies such as the 'capital gains tax reduction for overseas stock investors' and exchange rate stabilization measures. However, downward pressure increased due to ongoing political confrontation, including the forced passage of the Special Court for Insurrection Act, the Information and Communications Network Act, and the appointment of a special prosecutor, resulting in a sideways trend in the approval rating."

In the party support poll (conducted on the 24th and 26th, targeting 1,004 voters aged 18 and older nationwide, using a 100% wireless automated response method, with a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, and a response rate of 4.0%), the Democratic Party of Korea's support rose by 0.4 percentage points from last week to 44.5%, while the People Power Party fell by 1.5 percentage points to 35.7%. As a result, the gap between the two parties widened from 6.9 percentage points last week to 8.8 percentage points.

Realmeter analyzed, "The People Power Party failed to block legislation despite Representative Jang Donghyuk's filibuster, highlighting the opposition's weakness, and internal conflicts over the special prosecutor for the Unification Church further contributed to the decline." The Reform New Party recorded 3.8%, and the Cho Kuk Innovation Party recorded 3.1%.

For more details regarding the public opinion poll, please refer to the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.