President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating has dropped for eight consecutive weeks, reaching its lowest point since he took office, according to a poll released on September 7.
The survey conducted by Realmeter, commissioned by Energy Economy News, from August 31 to September 4, found that President Lee's positive approval rating fell by 1.5 percentage points from the previous week to 37.4%.
Negative evaluations increased by 0.8 percentage points to 59.5%. The gap between positive and negative evaluations stands at 22.1 percentage points, outside the margin of error. Those who responded with 'don't know' accounted for 3.1%.
Daily approval ratings declined from 38.2% on August 28 to 36.4% on September 1 and 36.3% on September 2. Although there was a slight rebound to 37.1% on September 3 and 37.2% on September 4, it did not reverse the overall downward trend.
Regionally, approval ratings in Seoul dropped by 6.0 percentage points compared to the previous week. In Daegu and North Gyeongsang, it fell by 2.9 percentage points, in Incheon and Gyeonggi by 2.3 percentage points, and in Busan, Ulsan, and South Gyeongsang by 1.2 percentage points. Conversely, Daejeon, Sejong, and Chungcheong saw an increase of 5.6 percentage points.
By age group, approval ratings fell by 4.9 percentage points among those in their 30s and 60s. The 40s saw a decrease of 2.1 percentage points, while those aged 70 and above dropped by 1.3 percentage points. However, approval ratings among those in their 50s increased by 3.1 percentage points.
In terms of ideological orientation, the approval rating among moderates fell by 5.5 percentage points to 35.9%. Among progressives, it rose by 4.0 percentage points to 57.3%, while conservatives saw a 1.7 percentage point increase to 19.2%.
Realmeter attributed the decline in approval ratings to controversies surrounding alleged favoritism and the withdrawal of ministerial candidates, as well as the government's reversal on real estate tax reform, which has eroded public trust in its personnel and policies.
In a separate survey conducted from September 3 to 4 among 1,001 eligible voters aged 18 and older, the Democratic Party recorded a support rate of 41.8%, while the People Power Party stood at 37.6%. The Democratic Party's support fell by 1.3 percentage points, and the People Power Party's by 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous week.
The gap between the two parties' support rates is 4.2 percentage points, remaining within the margin of error for three consecutive weeks. The Justice Innovation Party was at 4.5%, the Reform Party at 2.3%, and the Progressive Party at 1.3%. Other parties accounted for 2.1%, while 10.5% of respondents were undecided.
Both surveys were conducted using a wireless automated response method. The margin of error for the presidential approval rating survey is ±2.0 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, with a response rate of 4.2%. The margin of error for the party support survey is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, with a response rate of 3.8%. More details can be found on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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