Lee’s Approval Holds at 37% as Ruling Party Support Falls
President Lee Jae Myung’s approval rating remained unchanged at 37%, while support for the governing Democratic Party fell five points to its lowest level since the administration took office, according to a Gallup Korea survey.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s job approval rating held at 37% in a new Gallup Korea poll, but support for his governing Democratic Party dropped to its lowest level since the administration took office.
The survey of 1,000 adults, conducted from Tuesday through Thursday, found Lee’s approval unchanged from Gallup Korea’s previous poll in the third week of September. His disapproval rating fell five percentage points to 51%, while 12% of respondents did not express an opinion.
Foreign affairs was the most frequently cited reason for a positive assessment, accounting for 24% of those who approved of Lee’s performance. Economic and livelihood issues followed at 14%, and 7% said the president was doing well overall.
Among respondents who disapproved, real estate policy was the leading concern at 18%. Defense, national security and North Korea policy ranked next at 15%. The reduction of prosecutorial powers and planned abolition of the prosecutors’ office was cited by 8%, while 7% pointed to poor overall performance and another 7% named economic and livelihood concerns.
The party figures showed a sharper shift. Support for the Democratic Party fell five points to 35%, the party’s weakest result in Gallup Korea polling since Lee’s government began. The main opposition People Power Party recorded 26%, down one point.
Smaller parties remained in single digits. The Rebuilding Korea Party received 3%, the Reform Party 2% and the Progressive Party 1%. Respondents who said they supported no party made up 31% of the sample, underscoring the size of the politically unaffiliated bloc.
The results suggest that Lee’s personal standing remained stable even as his party lost ground. The simultaneous decline in disapproval indicates that some voters moved away from a negative judgment without shifting into the approval column, while the governing party’s five-point drop may point to broader dissatisfaction with its recent performance or agenda.
Gallup Korea conducted the poll through telephone interviews using randomly selected mobile phone numbers. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. Its contact rate was 42.3%, and its response rate was 9.7%.