Democratic Party's Approval Rating Falls to 35%, Lowest Since Government Took Office
A public opinion poll released on the 9th showed that the approval rating of the Democratic Party of Korea has fallen to 35%, its lowest since the Lee Jae-myung government took office. According to a telephone survey of 1,000 adults aged 18 and older nationwide conducted by Gallup Korea from October 6 to 8, the Democratic Party's support dropped 5 percentage points from the previous survey (September 15–17), which stood at 40%. The survey had a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
The People Power Party's approval rating stood at 26%, down 1 percentage point from three weeks earlier (27%). The share of unaffiliated respondents rose to 31% in this survey, up 6 percentage points from three weeks ago (25%). Other parties included the Rebuilding Korea Party at 3%, the Reform Party at 2%, and the Progressive Party at 1%.
In assessments of President Lee Jae-myung's job performance, positive evaluations stood at 37%, the same level as the previous survey, which marked the lowest since he took office. Negative evaluations fell 5 percentage points to 51% from three weeks earlier (56%). Respondents who withheld their opinions accounted for 12%.
Housing policy (18%) was the most cited reason for negative evaluations, followed by personnel affairs (16%) and defense, security, and North Korea policy (15%). Gallup explained that criticism related to defense and prosecutorial reform increased due to the landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone and the launch of the Major Crimes Investigation Office and the Public Prosecution Office on October 2. Diplomacy (24%) was the top reason for positive evaluations, followed by the economy and livelihoods (14%).
By age group, only respondents in their 50s gave positive evaluations (55%) that exceeded negative ones (38%). Positive evaluations among those aged 18 to 29 fell to 24%, down 9 percentage points from the previous survey. Further details of the survey are available on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.
