Lee's approval rating holds steady at 37%; disapproval eases somewhat [Gallup Korea]

[Financial News] The decline in President Lee Jae Myung's job approval has paused for now. However, disapproval remained above 50%, with real estate policy, defense and security issues, and prosecution reform cited as reasons for negative assessments.
According to results released on the 9th by Gallup Korea, which surveyed 1,000 people aged 18 and older nationwide from the 6th to the 8th, 37% approved of President Lee's job performance. In the poll, the first conducted in three weeks since the Chuseok holiday, approval remained at the same level as in the previous poll, conducted in the third week of September.
Disapproval stood at 51%, down 5 percentage points from the previous poll. As a result, the gap between approval and disapproval narrowed from 19 percentage points to 14 percentage points. A total of 12% of respondents gave no opinion.
Among respondents who disapproved of President Lee's job performance, the most frequently cited reason was “real estate policy” (18%). This was followed by “national defense, security and North Korea” at 15%, “reducing the prosecution's powers and abolishing the Prosecution Service” at 8%, and “poor overall performance” and “the economy and people's livelihoods” at 7% each.
“Diplomacy” was the most frequently cited reason for approval, at 24%. It was followed by “the economy and people's livelihoods” at 14%, “good overall performance” at 7%, and “policies for ordinary people and welfare” at 5%.
Among centrists, 37% approved and 53% disapproved. Among respondents with no party affiliation, disapproval was also more common, at 54%, compared with 22% who approved.
By age group, approval among people in their 50s stood at 55%, ahead of disapproval at 38%. In every other age group, disapproval exceeded approval.
Support for the parties stood at 35% for the Democratic Party of Korea and 26% for the People Power Party. Compared with the previous poll, support fell by 5 percentage points for the Democratic Party and 1 percentage point for the People Power Party, narrowing the gap between them from 13 percentage points to 9. Support for the Democratic Party was its lowest since the current government took office. The nonpartisan share was 31%.
The survey was conducted using telephone interviewer interviews (CATI), with wireless phone virtual numbers provided by the three mobile carriers selected at random. The margin of sampling error was ±3.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, and the response rate was 9.7%. For more details, see the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.
  
[email protected] Kim Hyeong-gu Reporter