President Lee Jae-myung Says He Humbly Accepts Public Judgment After Sharp Drop in Approval Rating: "I Am Sorry"

[Financial News] President Lee Jae-myung, who is visiting Belgium, said on the 10th local time that he humbly accepts the public's cold judgment, after a poll showed that his approval rating had fallen by 9.4 percentage points from the previous survey.
Lee said on X (formerly Twitter) that day, "I am sorry to the people," and added that he accepts the result.
He then added, "I will be more humble, take a lower posture, open up more, embrace more, and work harder."
According to a survey released that day by the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI), Lee's approval rating for state affairs stood at 50.4%. That was down 9.4 percentage points from the previous survey conducted before the June 3 local elections.
By contrast, the negative rating rose to 45.7%, up 10.5 percentage points from the previous survey. The gap between positive and negative ratings narrowed to 4.7 percentage points, within the margin of error. It is the first time in KSOI's regular polling that the gap between positive and negative assessments of Lee's state administration has fallen within the margin of error.
The gap in party support also narrowed sharply between the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the People Power Party. Support for the DPK came in at 38.6%, while the People Power Party stood at 38.1%, leaving a gap of 0.5 percentage point.
KSOI analyzed the drop in support as reflecting the fact that, although the ruling party won the local elections, it fell short of expectations in key battlegrounds such as the Seoul mayoral race and by-elections for the National Assembly.
The survey was conducted on Aug. 8-9 among 1,002 men and women aged 18 or older nationwide using an automated ARS response system with wireless virtual numbers. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, and the response rate was 5.8%. For more details, see the website of the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission.

west@fnnews.com Seong Seok-woo Reporter