President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating falls 2 points to 35.3%

President Lee Jae-myung's positive rating on his handling of state affairs stood at 35.3% in a Realmeter survey released on the 26th, down 2 percentage points from the previous poll. The survey was conducted by Realmeter, commissioned by Asia Economy, from October 19 to 23, 2026, on 2,517 adults aged 18 or older nationwide. The negative rating came to 62.3%, down 1.9 percentage points, while 2.4% said they did not know.

In the same survey, on party support measured October 22–23 among 1,003 voters aged 18 or older nationwide, the People Power Party registered 42.6%, up 1.7 percentage points from a week earlier, while the Democratic Party stood at 36.0%, down 0.2 percentage points, marking a gap outside the margin of error. The Rebuilding Korea Party polled 6.7%, the Reform Party 2.6%, and the Progressive Party 0.8%, while support for other parties was 2.4% and the share of independents was 8.8%.

Both surveys were conducted entirely via wireless automated response. The state affairs approval poll had a margin of error of ±2.0 percentage points at a 95% confidence level with a response rate of 2.8%, while the party support poll had a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points and a response rate of 3.2%. Details can be found on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.

Realmeter analyzed that "the combined effects of the stock market's sharp plunge, controversy over the postponement of the National Pension Service's stock sales, housing jeonse market turmoil and other economic and real estate concerns, along with the threat of North Korea resuming loudspeaker broadcasts toward the South and political wrangling over the president's social media remarks and the controversy over the head of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials attending a Cabinet meeting, appear to have driven supporters away, mainly among progressive-leaning voters and in the greater Seoul area."