Lee Jae-myung’s approval rating slips to 59.5% after two-week decline, Realmeter says

President Lee Jae-myung’s job approval fell for a second straight week, slipping back into the 50% range for the first time in eight weeks, a Realmeter survey showed. Party support also shifted slightly, narrowing the gap between the Democratic Party and the People Power Party.
 
In a poll commissioned by Energy Economic News, Realmeter surveyed 2,006 voters nationwide age 18 and older over four days from the 27th to the 30th. Positive evaluations of Lee’s performance came to 59.5% (46.6% “very good” and 12.9% “good”), down 2.7 percentage points from the previous week.
 
According to Realmeter’s results released on the 4th, negative evaluations stood at 35% (25.8% “very poor” and 9.2% “poor”), up 1.6 points. The gap between positive and negative ratings was 24.5 points, while 5.5% said they did not know. Realmeter said factors may include moves to pursue a special counsel probe over alleged manipulated indictments aimed at canceling Lee’s indictment.
 
In a separate party-preference survey of 1,006 voters conducted over two days from the 29th to the 30th, support for the Democratic Party was 48.6%, falling back into the 40% range for the first time in four weeks. The People Power Party stood at 31.6%, staying in the low 30s for a sixth consecutive week. The gap narrowed to 17 points but remained outside the margin of error for a 13th straight week. Other parties were the Rebuilding Korea Party at 4%, the New Reform Party at 2.6% and the Progressive Party at 2.2%. The share of respondents with no party preference was 8.2%.
 
Realmeter said rising pressure on household finances from high oil prices, a weak exchange rate and inflation combined with political uncertainty, including controversy over security-related remarks by Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young and labor-management disputes. It said defections were most noticeable among voters sensitive to living costs and among centrists, adding that instability outweighed policy achievements in driving negative views.
 
The surveys were conducted by automated response (ARS) using randomly generated mobile phone numbers (100% wireless). The job-approval poll had a 4.6% response rate and a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. The party-preference poll had a 4.6% response rate and a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 points. More details are available on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.