President Lee's Approval Rating Rises to 39%

President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating has increased by 2 percentage points to 39%, according to a poll released on October 16. Disapproval ratings also rose by 1 percentage point to 52%.
 
The survey conducted by Gallup Korea from October 13 to 15 involved 1,003 eligible voters aged 18 and older. Of those surveyed, 39% said they believe President Lee is performing well in his duties, while 52% disagreed. Nine percent of respondents were undecided.
 
The positive rating has risen by 2 percentage points from the previous week, moving away from the lowest point since his inauguration. However, the disapproval rating remains above half. The decline in support that persisted until before the Chuseok holiday appears to have halted this month.
 
Among supporters of political parties, 74% of Democratic Party supporters rated President Lee's performance positively, while 86% of People Power Party supporters rated it negatively. Among progressives, 65% gave a positive rating, while 77% of conservatives rated it negatively.
 
In the centrist group, 40% rated him positively, while 51% rated him negatively, indicating a prevailing disapproval. Among those without party affiliation, only 24% gave a positive rating, while 57% rated him negatively.
 
By gender, 41% of women rated him positively, while 48% rated him negatively. For men, the positive rating was 36%, and the negative rating was 57%. In terms of age, the positive and negative ratings were similar among those in their 40s and 50s, but other age groups showed higher negative ratings.
 
The main reasons for positive ratings included foreign policy at 20%, followed by economic and livelihood issues at 11%. Communication and overall performance were each cited by 7%, while policies for the underprivileged and welfare were mentioned by 6%.
 
The leading reason for negative ratings was real estate policy at 19%. Economic issues, including responses to the stock market, accounted for 12%, and defense, security, and North Korea policy were cited by 11%. Concerns about foreign policy, moral issues, avoidance of personal trials, overall poor performance, and personnel issues each received 5%.
 
Gallup noted that real estate issues have consistently ranked as the top reason for disapproval since the fourth week of July, and the increase in criticisms related to economic issues coincides with the stock market's decline from 7,000 to 5,000 points over seven consecutive trading days.
 
In terms of party support, the Democratic Party stands at 36%, while the People Power Party is at 27%, resulting in a 9 percentage point gap. The Justice Party is at 3%, the Reform Party at 2%, and both the Progressive Party and other parties or groups are at 1%. The percentage of those without party affiliation is 29%.
 
Among centrists, the Democratic Party's support is at 38%, while the People Power Party is at 18%, with 36% remaining unaffiliated.
 
This survey was conducted through telephone interviews using randomly selected virtual numbers. The margin of error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, with a response rate of 10.4%. More details can be found on the website of the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission and Gallup Korea.