[Edaily Reporter KWON HYE-ME ] A public opinion poll has shown that President Lee Jae-myung’s approval rating for his handling of state affairs fell by 5.3 percentage points from the previous survey to 35.9%.

According to a poll conducted by the Korea Social Opinion Institute (KSOI) on the 16th, which surveyed 1,001 adult men and women nationwide on the 14th and 15th, 35.9% of respondents rated President Lee’s performance in office positively, while 59.4% rated it negatively. 4.6% responded “don’t know.”

Compared to a survey conducted two weeks ago, the approval rating dropped by 5.3 percentage points, while the disapproval rating rose by 5.5 percentage points. Among the seven surveys released since June 22–23, this survey shows the lowest approval rating and the highest disapproval rating.

Negative evaluations also prevailed across all age groups. Among those aged 18–29, 28.3% had a “positive” view, while 59.0% had a “negative” view. Among those in their 30s, 29.5% had a “positive” view, and 64.1% had a “negative” view.

Among those in their 40s, “negative” (51.9%) also exceeded “positive” (45.2%); for those in their 50s, the figures were 41.4% and 56.8%, respectively; for those in their 60s, 35.7% and 62.1%; and for those aged 70 and older, 33.1% and 63.2%.

By region, negative evaluations exceeded the majority in all regions except the Honam region. Negative evaluations were highest in Daejeon, Sejong, and Chungcheong (67.3%), followed by ▲Seoul (61.5%) ▲Gyeonggi and Incheon (61.3%) ▲Daegu and North Gyeongsang (60.9%).

Only the Jeonnam-Gwangju and Jeonbuk regions recorded a positive rating of 56.5%, exceeding the majority. By political ideology, positive ratings dropped significantly compared to the previous survey among both progressive voters (55.5% positive) and centrist voters (36.2% positive).

At the same time, when asked, “In which area is President Lee performing best?” the most common response was “None” at 40.6%. This was followed by ▲Diplomacy and National Security (17.5%) ▲Economic Recovery (13.0%) ▲Welfare and Labor (6.6%) ▲Eradication of Seditious Forces (5.0%) ▲National Unity (3.3%).

Conversely, “national unity” was cited most frequently (21.4%) as the area where the President is performing the worst. This was followed by ▲economic recovery (16.9%) ▲cracking down on forces seeking to incite civil unrest (15.7%) ▲foreign affairs and national security (9.9%), among others.

In terms of party approval ratings, the Democratic Party of Korea stood at 36.3% and the People Power Party at 33.2%, a difference of 3.1 percentage points. Compared to the previous survey, the Democratic Party’s rating dropped by 3 percentage points, while the People Power Party’s fell by 0.4 percentage points.

Meanwhile, this survey was conducted using a 100% automated response system (ARS) with virtual mobile phone numbers provided by telecommunications carriers. The margin of error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, and the response rate was 5.9%. For more details, please refer to the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.