Lee Jae Myung's Approval Rating Hits Post-Inauguration Low of 37% as Real Estate and Personnel Issues Weigh on Him

[Financial News] President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating for his job performance fell to 37%, the lowest level since he took office. His disapproval rating reached 56%, the highest since his inauguration, with real estate policy and personnel appointments cited as the main reasons for the negative assessments.
According to a Gallup Korea Research Institute survey conducted on the 18th among 1,002 voters aged 18 and older nationwide from the 15th to the 17th, 37% said President Lee was 'doing well' in his job. Fifty-six percent said he was 'doing poorly,' while 7% gave no opinion. In this survey, Lee's job approval rating was the lowest and his disapproval rating the highest since he took office.
Negative assessments outpaced positive ones even among centrists. Among those identifying as centrist, 38% approved of Lee's performance and 56% disapproved. Among independents with no preferred political party, 25% approved and 57% disapproved, giving the negative view a clear lead. By ideological orientation, 57% of progressives approved, while 75% of conservatives disapproved.
By gender, 30% of men gave a positive assessment and 64% a negative one. Among women, the figures were 44% and 48%, respectively. By age group, positive and negative assessments were evenly divided among people in their 40s and 50s, while negative assessments were more common in all other age groups.
Real estate policy was cited as the biggest reason for the negative assessments. When the 560 respondents who disapproved of Lee were asked why, 'real estate policy' ranked first at 20%, followed by 'personnel appointments' at 16% and 'the economy and people's livelihoods' at 9%. 'Reducing the powers of prosecutors,' 'ethical issues and avoiding his own trial,' and 'generally doing a poor job' each received 5%. Real estate issues have remained the top reason for disapproval since the fourth week of July.
By contrast, 'foreign affairs' was the most common reason for positive assessments, at 26%. It was followed by 'the economy and people's livelihoods' at 11%, 'generally doing a good job' at 6%, and 'policies for ordinary people and welfare' at 5%.
In party support, the Democratic Party of Korea stood at 40% and the People Power Party at 27%. The Rebuilding Korea Party (RKP) and the Reform Party each received 3%, while the Progressive Party received 1%. Independents with no preferred political party accounted for 25%.
Regarding the performance of Kim Min-seok, who has served as leader of the Democratic Party of Korea for one month, 30% gave a positive assessment and 48% a negative one. Among Democratic Party of Korea supporters, 54% viewed Kim's performance positively, while 27% viewed it negatively.
Jang Dong-hyuk's performance as leader of the People Power Party received a positive assessment from 21% and a negative assessment from 61%. Even among People Power Party supporters, negative assessments led at 49%, compared with 39% who gave a positive assessment.
The poll cited in the report was conducted through telephone interviewer surveys using wireless phone virtual numbers randomly selected from those provided by the three mobile carriers. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, and the response rate was 9.8%.  For more details, refer to the website of the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission.

[email protected] Song Ji-won Reporter