President Lee Faces First 'Dead Cross' as Approval Ratings Decline for Five Weeks

President Lee Jae-myung's negative approval ratings have surpassed positive evaluations for the first time since he took office. This shift is attributed to the fallout from the mismanagement of the June 3 local elections and ongoing internal conflicts within the Democratic Party, which have negatively impacted the political landscape.

Realmeter, commissioned by the Energy Economy Newspaper, released a survey on June 22 that was conducted from June 15 to 19, involving 2,517 eligible voters aged 18 and older across the country using a 100% automated response system.

The survey found that President Lee's approval rating stands at 46.7%, while disapproval has risen to 49.7%. Compared to the previous week, positive evaluations dropped by 4.8 percentage points, while negative evaluations increased by 5.5 percentage points, narrowing the gap between the two to within the margin of error at 3 percentage points.

Breaking down the positive responses, 36.1% rated his performance as 'very good,' while 10.6% said it was 'fairly good.' On the negative side, 37.8% rated it as 'very poor,' and 11.9% said it was 'fairly poor.' Those who responded 'don't know' accounted for 3.6%.

Realmeter attributed the decline in support to the spread of accountability issues stemming from the local election mismanagement and the internal conflicts within the ruling party, which have cast a negative shadow over the political climate.

Despite some positive factors, such as achievements from a recent trip to Europe and the KOSPI index surpassing 9,000, concerns about asset market polarization have led to a loss of support, particularly among centrist voters and those in the capital region.

Daily trends show that the approval rating, which was 48.1% on June 12, fell to 47.6% on June 16, 46.4% on June 17, 46.8% on June 18, and dropped to 45.6% on June 19.

In a related survey conducted by the same organization from June 18 to 19, support for the People Power Party was recorded at 42.3%, while the Democratic Party garnered 40.1%. The gap between the two parties has narrowed to 2.2 percentage points.

The People Power Party saw a 2 percentage point decline compared to the previous week, marking a downward trend after four weeks, while the Democratic Party experienced a rebound with a 2.1 percentage point increase. Other parties included the Reform Party at 3.4%, the Justice Party at 2.9%, and the Progressive Party at 1.7%, with 7.7% of respondents identifying as undecided.

Both surveys were conducted using an automated response system. The margin of error for the presidential approval rating survey is ±2.0 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, with a response rate of 4.2%. The party support survey had a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, with a response rate of 3.3%. For more details, please refer to the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.