[Edaily Reporter Hwang Byeong Seo ] A public opinion poll released on the 13th showed that President Lee Jae-myung’s approval rating fell by 2 percentage points (p) from the previous week to 39%. The disapproval rating stood at 50%, unchanged from the previous week. Gallup Korea analyzed that while the approval rating declined numerically, it has effectively remained stagnant for the past month.

According to a poll conducted by the polling firm Gallup Korea from the 10th to the 12th among 1,002 voters nationwide aged 18 and older, 39% of respondents answered positively when asked whether President Lee is currently performing his duties as president well or poorly. Fifty percent gave a negative rating, while 10% withheld an opinion. The approval rating fell by 2 percentage points compared to the previous week, while the disapproval rating remained unchanged. Gallup Korea explained, “Although the approval rating dropped by 2 percentage points compared to last week—causing the leading digit to change again—it has effectively remained stagnant for the past month.”
The view that President Lee is “doing a good job” was most prevalent among supporters of the Democratic Party of Korea (74%) and those with progressive leanings (65%), while the view that he is “doing a poor job” was most prevalent among supporters of the People Power Party (89%) and those with conservative leanings (78%). Negative views also prevailed among those without a preferred political party (positive: 24%, negative: 54%). By gender, the gap between positive and negative evaluations was not significant among women (positive 41%, negative 46%), while a higher proportion of men (positive 38%, negative 55%) gave negative evaluations.
When those who rated the president’s job performance positively were asked why, they cited “the economy and people’s livelihoods” (19%), “foreign policy” (17%), and “communication” (9%) in that order. Those who rated his performance negatively cited “real estate policy” (17%), “the economy and people’s livelihoods” (15%), and “ethical issues and recusal from his own trial” (12%), among other reasons. Gallup Korea stated, “Criticism regarding ethical issues has increased for two consecutive weeks, and this appears to be related to the National Assembly’s passage of the Special Prosecutor Act on Fabricated Indictments.”
The survey found that current party support stands at 39% for the Democratic Party of Korea and 26% for the People Power Party. This was followed by the Cho Kuk Innovation Party at 4%, the Reform Party at 3%, the Progressive Party at 1%, and 27% of respondents who identified as unaffiliated with any party. Over the past two weeks, support for the Democratic Party has risen while support for the People Power Party has fallen, resulting in the gap between the two major parties reaching double digits for the first time since the Chuseok holiday in October. By political orientation, 72% of progressive voters support the Democratic Party, while 55% of conservative voters support the People Power Party. Among centrist voters, 38% support the Democratic Party, 19% support the People Power Party, and 37% do not support any specific party.
Regarding the special counsel bill on the investigation and prosecution of election fraud, 44% were in favor, while 37% opposed it. Twenty percent remained undecided. Support for the special counsel stood in the 70% range among Democratic Party supporters and those with progressive leanings, while opposition exceeded 60% among People Power Party supporters and those with conservative leanings, revealing a polarized landscape. Among centrist voters, support and opposition were roughly evenly split.
Meanwhile, this survey was conducted using the Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) method with randomly selected mobile phone virtual numbers. The margin of error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, and the response rate was 10.1%. Detailed information can be found on the websites of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission and Gallup Korea.