[Polpol News] President Lee's Approval Rises to 64%... Significant Increase in Economic Optimism Among Conservatives

Gallup Poll

President Lee's Approval Rating Rises by 1 Percentage Point

President Lee Jae-myung's job approval rating has risen slightly, reaching the mid-60% range. Notably, optimism about the economy has also increased among conservatives and People Power Party supporters.

According to a regular public opinion poll released by Gallup Korea on the 27th (conducted from the 24th to 26th with 1,000 respondents aged 18 or older nationwide, using random mobile phone sampling and live interviewer calls, with a sampling error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level and a response rate of 11.8%), President Lee's job approval rating was found to be 64%, up 1 percentage point from the survey conducted before the Lunar New Year (the second week of February). The disapproval rating remained unchanged at 26%.

President Lee Jae-myung is striking the gavel to declare the opening of the Cabinet meeting at the Blue House on the 24th. Photo by Yonhap News

Among the 639 respondents who gave a positive assessment of President Lee's job performance, 17% cited economic and livelihood policies, while another 17% pointed to real estate policy. Diplomacy was cited by 11%. In particular, positive assessments of real estate policy increased by 6 percentage points compared to the previous survey. However, among the 264 respondents who gave a negative assessment, 15% cited real estate policy as the reason, highlighting a clear contrast.

In a separate poll asking about optimism regarding South Korea's economy over the next year, 44% of respondents said they expected conditions to "improve." Meanwhile, 28% predicted things would "worsen," and 24% expected "no significant change." Gallup Korea analyzed, "Optimism has increased while pessimism has decreased for two consecutive months, returning to levels seen at the beginning of the current administration in July last year," adding, "The sharp rise since the start of the new year, along with the KOSPI (Korea Composite Stock Price Index) surpassing the 5,000 mark during trading on the 22nd of last month and exceeding 6,000 on the 25th of this month, appears to have influenced perceptions."

A key point of interest is the shift in conservative sentiment. In last month's survey, only 16% of conservatives were optimistic about the economy, but this figure rose to 29% in the latest poll. The proportion of conservatives with a pessimistic outlook also fell from 62% to 45%. Gallup Korea stated, "Compared to the previous month, optimism about the economy has increased among conservatives and People Power Party supporters."

In terms of party support, the Democratic Party of Korea received a 43% approval rating, down 1 percentage point from the previous survey. People Power Party support remained unchanged at 22%. The Reform New Party recorded 3%, the Cho Kuk Innovation Party 2%, and the Progressive Party 1%.

Regarding the sentencing of former President Yoon Suk-yeol to life imprisonment in the first trial on charges of leading a rebellion in connection with the 12·3 Martial Law incident, 39% of respondents felt the sentence was insufficient, 29% considered it appropriate, and 24% thought it was excessive. Regarding the nature of the 12·3 Martial Law, 64% of respondents identified it as a rebellion, while 24% said it was not.

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

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.