People Power Party overtakes Democratic Party with 39.4% support
President Lee Jae Myung's job approval rating rose for the second consecutive week, while a poll released on the 28th showed the People Power Party edging past the Democratic Party within the margin of error.
In a survey commissioned by the Energy Economy Newspaper and conducted by RealMeter from the 21st to the 23rd among 1,508 adults aged 18 and older nationwide, positive assessments of President Lee's handling of state affairs came in at 37.9%, up 3.1 percentage points from the previous week. Negative assessments fell 3.3 percentage points to 60.1%, while 'don't know' responses stood at 2.0%. RealMeter analyzed that the president's outreach through press conferences and his diplomatic travels — including the UN General Assembly and the South Korea-U.S. summit — worked in his favor, and that his resolve to renew personnel, seen in the voluntary withdrawal of Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won and the resignation offer of Presidential Secretary Chief Kang Hun-sik, was also positively received.
In a party support survey of 1,005 voters aged 18 and older nationwide conducted on the 22nd and 23rd, the People Power Party recorded 39.4% and the Democratic Party 38.7%. With the Democratic Party down 1.5 percentage points from the previous survey and the People Power Party up 0.9 points, the lead switched within the margin of error for the first time in two weeks.
RealMeter attributed the People Power Party's gains to its sharp attacks on the government's vetting of appointees following a series of failed ministerial nominees, along with its highlighting of the judiciary conflict and the constitutional amendment controversy. As for the Democratic Party, it analyzed that internal strife over the nomination of the head of the Serious Crime Investigation Office and the fallout from Chief Justice Jo Hee-de's refusal to re-nominate Supreme Court justices drove defections among voters in their 40s and under as well as centrists.
The fortunes of other parties also shifted. The Cho Kuk Innovation Party, which had seen its support rise for five straight weeks, halted its upward momentum, falling 1.2 percentage points to 4.0%. The Reform Party stood at 2.9% and the Progressive Party at 1.4%, while other parties registered 3.3% and independents 10.2%.
The job approval survey had a sampling error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, with a response rate of 3.8%. The party support survey had a sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points and a response rate of 3.5%. Further details are available on the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission's website.
