President Lee's Approval Rating Rises Slightly to 34.8% After 10 Weeks

President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating for his administration has increased slightly to 34.8%, marking a rebound after 10 weeks, according to a survey released on September 21. In party support, the Democratic Party has regained a lead over the People Power Party, though the margin remains within the margin of error.

The survey conducted by Realmeter, commissioned by Energy Economy News, polled 2,507 voters aged 18 and older from September 14 to 18. President Lee's approval rating rose by 1.0 percentage point from the previous week, while disapproval increased by 0.1 percentage point to 63.4%. The gap between approval and disapproval ratings stands at 28.6 percentage points.

Daily approval ratings climbed from 32.1% on September 16 to 35.3% on September 17, reaching 37.2% on September 18, the day of the president's press conference. Realmeter noted that while the approval rating had been declining earlier in the week due to controversies surrounding personnel verification and hearings, the president's press conference addressing issues such as reappointment, dismissal of charges, and deployment to the Strait of Hormuz contributed to the upward trend.

By age group, approval ratings among those in their 20s saw the largest increase, rising 5.4 percentage points to 24.0%. Approval among those in their 60s increased by 2.9 percentage points to 38.3%, while those in their 30s rose by 2.8 percentage points to 29.8%. Conversely, approval ratings among those in their 40s fell by 2.3 percentage points to 38.9%, and those in their 50s decreased by 1.9 percentage points to 40.7%.

In a separate survey conducted on September 17-18 among 1,003 voters aged 18 and older regarding party support, the Democratic Party's approval rose by 4.1 percentage points to 40.2%, while the People Power Party dropped by 3.6 percentage points to 38.5%. The Democratic Party has overtaken the People Power Party again, with a margin of 1.7 percentage points, marking five consecutive weeks of a close race within the margin of error.

The Democratic Party's support increased by 12.9 percentage points among those in their 20s and by 10.0 percentage points in the Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam regions. The People Power Party saw declines of 9.1 percentage points among those in their 20s and 30s, and a 9.8 percentage point drop in the same regions. Other parties' support included the Justice Party at 5.2%, the Reform Party at 1.9%, and the Progressive Party at 0.9%, with 11.0% of respondents identifying as undecided.

Both surveys were conducted using automated telephone response methods. The response rate for the presidential approval rating survey was 4.1%, with a margin of error of ±2.0 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. The response rate for the party support survey was 3.5%, with a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For more details, please refer to the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.