Kim Min-seok: “In the process of halting the decline in approval ratings” ... Press conference after parliamentary audit

[Financial News] Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok said on the 8th, regarding his goal of raising the party’s approval rating by 10 percentage points within 100 days of taking office, “We are in the process of making changes to halt the decline in approval ratings and move toward stability.”
After visiting a rice-harvesting site in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, that day, Kim told reporters that, regarding the party’s approval rating remaining in the 30% range, “50 days have now passed since I took office, and I said that I would work to recover somewhat more support overall by around the 100-day mark.” Citing the party’s internal reorganization since he took office, which focused on policies for people’s livelihoods, he added, “There are still at least 50 days left,” and explained, “There is time to take measures to do that kind of work (to put the party on a stable footing).”
The Democratic Party of Korea’s approval rating has not shown a clear rebound since Kim took office. In a poll released by Gallup Korea on August 21, shortly after he took office, the party’s approval rating was 41%; in a poll released on September 18, it was 40%. In the National Barometer Survey (NBS) released on the 1st, the party’s approval rating was 35%, down 4 percentage points from the previous poll.
He also indicated that he intended to hold his first press conference around late October, when the parliamentary audit ends. Kim had initially planned to hold a press conference around a month after taking office, but postponed it. Some in political circles interpreted this as him feeling burdened about holding a press conference amid deepening divisions within the ruling camp and a falling party approval rating. Kim said, “By around late October, when the parliamentary audit ends, 60 to 70 days will have passed since I took office,” adding, “That will be an appropriate time to lay out and show which direction the new Democratic Party of Korea system will take.” He continued, “The 100 days I initially mentioned was also an estimate of when we would have the basic framework in place, set a direction and begin to produce results,” adding, “There is still time to watch that direction with expectations and a certain degree of foresight.”
The cited Gallup Korea polls were conducted using interviewer-administered telephone interviews with virtual mobile phone numbers. The first surveyed 1,004 people aged 18 or older nationwide from August 18 to 20 (response rate: 10.0%), and the second surveyed 1,002 people from September 15 to 17 (response rate: 9.8%). The NBS poll was conducted by Embrain Public, Kstat Research, Korea Research and Hankook Research from September 28 to 30, surveying 1,000 people aged 18 or older nationwide through telephone interviews using virtual mobile phone numbers. Its response rate was 18.8%. All three polls had a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For details, see the website of the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission.

[email protected] Song Ji-won Reporter