[Edaily Reporter Hwang Byeong-seo] A public opinion poll released on the 8th showed that President Lee Jae-myung’s approval rating for his handling of state affairs stood at 55.2%. This marks a decline for the third consecutive week, attributed to negative factors such as calls for administrative accountability over the ballot paper shortage and the sharp rise in the exchange rate.

According to a survey conducted by Realmeter from the 1st to the 5th of this month among 2,013 voters aged 18 and older nationwide, President Lee’s positive job approval rating stood at 55.2%, down 3.9 percentage points from the previous week. The percentage of respondents who rated his performance as “very good” was 41.6%, while those who rated it as “somewhat good” was 13.6%. Conversely, the negative rating rose by 4.2 percentage points to 41.0%. The percentage of those who rated his performance as “very poor” was 30.4%, while those who rated it as “somewhat poor” was 10.6%. The gap between positive and negative ratings was 14.2 percentage points. “Don’t know” responses accounted for 3.8%.

Realmeter explained, “The approval rating dropped significantly starting the day after the local elections due to a combination of calls for administrative accountability over the shortage of ballots in the June 3 local elections and calls for government oversight triggered by the Democratic Party’s failure to retake the Seoul mayoral seat, compounded by the sharp rise in the exchange rate toward the end of the week.”

By region, support in Busan, Ulsan, and South Gyeongsang fell from 56.6% the previous week to 49.7%. Support in Incheon and Gyeonggi fell from 60.6% to 55.9%, in Seoul from 50.8% to 47.4%, and in Daegu and North Gyeongsang from 50.2% to 47.1%. By gender, support among men fell from 58.1% to 53.9%, while support among women dropped from 60.0% to 56.5%. By age group, the decline was most pronounced among those in their 30s. Support among this group fell by 10.7 percentage points, from 49.5% the previous week to 38.8%. This was followed by a 5.3 percentage point decrease among those in their 60s and a 4.9 percentage point decrease among those aged 70 and older. By ideological orientation, support among moderates fell by 6.5 percentage points, from 63.2% to 56.7%. By occupation, support among students fell from 44.3% to 31.1%.

In terms of party support, the Democratic Party of Korea ranked first with 41.8%. This was followed by the People Power Party at 41.1%, the Jo Kuk Innovation Party at 2.8%, the Reform Party at 2.5%, the Progressive Party at 1.1%, other parties at 3.2%, and those without a party affiliation at 7.6%.

Realmeter stated, “Although the Democratic Party of Korea secured 12 metropolitan mayoral seats and emerged victorious in the local elections, its failure to recapture the highly symbolic Seoul mayoral seat, coupled with defeats in key battlegrounds such as Buk-gu A and Pyeongtaek B, led to a noticeable defection of centrist voters and those in their 30s.” “The People Power Party secured a focal point for the ‘check on the government’ narrative centered on Seoul with the election of Mayor Oh Se-hoon, and by defending key battlegrounds such as Pyeongtaek-eul and the Daegu mayoral race, it laid the groundwork for conservative reconstruction,” it analyzed. It added, “Amid this trend, it appears that support has risen as the elderly in their 70s, traditional strongholds such as PK and TK, and the conservative base have rallied together.”

Meanwhile, this survey was conducted via wireless (100%) automated response system (ARS), with a response rate of 5.7%. The margin of error is ±2.2 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. The party support survey was conducted on April 4–5 among 1,004 voters aged 18 and older nationwide. The survey method was wireless automated response, and the margin of error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. The response rate was 5.6%. Further details can be found on the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.