[E-Daily Reporter KWON HYE-ME ] A public opinion poll shows that President Lee Jae-myung’s approval rating for his administration has reached 38.9%, marking the first time it has hit the 30% range since he took office.

According to a survey conducted by the polling firm Jo Won C&I on behalf of Straight News from the 22nd to the 24th among 2,001 men and women nationwide aged 18 and older, released on the 26th, President Lee’s approval rating for his administration stood at 38.9% “positive” and 57.9% “negative.” The “don’t know” response rate was 3.2%.

President Lee’s approval rating fell by 4.0 percentage points from the previous survey (August 8–10, 42.9%), while his disapproval rating rose by 3.8 percentage points, from 54.1% to 57.9%.

The gap between positive and negative ratings widened from 11.2 percentage points to 19.0 percentage points. In the same survey, President Lee’s approval rating for his handling of state affairs peaked at 66.1% in early April. This represents a 27.2-percentage-point difference compared to the 38.9% recorded in this survey.

By age group, negative ratings exceeded positive ratings across all age groups.

Among those aged 18–29, 30.1% approved and 62.9% disapproved; among those in their 30s, 33.1% approved and 65.8% disapproved; among those in their 40s, 43.3% approved and 56.3% disapproved; among those in their 50s, 40.9% approved and 56.3% disapproved; among those in their 60s, 44.2% approved, negative at 53.3%, and for those aged 70 and older, positive at 39.6% and negative at 54.7%.

By region, only Jeonnam-Gwangju and Jeonbuk showed a high positive rating of 65.3% versus 31.3% negative. In contrast, negative ratings exceeded positive ones in all other regions. Daejeon, Sejong, and Chungcheong had the highest proportion of negative evaluations, at 33.5% positive and 64.5% negative. Busan, Ulsan, and South Gyeongsang (PK) recorded 34.2% positive and 62.4% negative; Seoul recorded 34.9% positive and 61.9% negative; and Daegu and North Gyeongsang (TK) recorded 35.7% positive and 61.2% negative. In Incheon and Gyeonggi, the survey showed 38.5% positive and 58.1% negative, while in Gangwon and Jeju, the figures were 38.5% positive and 58.8% negative.

By ideological orientation, among centrists, 42.9% had a positive view and 55.1% had a negative view, with negative evaluations running 12.2 percentage points higher.

In a concurrent survey on political party support, the Democratic Party of Korea received 43.9% and the People Power Party 37.3%. The gap between the two major parties was 6.6 percentage points. The Cho Kuk Innovation Party followed with 2.8%, the Reform Party with 1.9%, other parties with 1.6%, the Progressive Party with 0.8%, “none” with 10.5%, and “don’t know” with 1.1%.

Meanwhile, this survey was conducted via an ARS (Automated Response System) poll (100% RDD method for mobile phones, with random sampling based on proportional allocation by gender, age group, and region). The margin of error is ±2.2 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, and the response rate was 3.8%. For further details, please refer to the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.