Lee’s Approval Rating Edges Up to 39% After Record Low

President Lee Jae Myung’s approval rating rose slightly to 39 percent after touching a record low, according to a weekly Gallup Korea survey released Friday. The result offers a modest sign of recovery for the president after a sustained decline since late August, although negative views of his performance remained substantially higher.

Gallup Korea surveyed 1,003 adults aged 18 and older from Tuesday through Thursday. The share of respondents who positively assessed Lee’s handling of state affairs increased by 2 percentage points from the previous week. His rating had stood at a record-low 37 percent in each of the pollster’s two preceding surveys.

The improvement did not produce a corresponding decline in dissatisfaction. The proportion of respondents who disapproved of Lee’s performance rose by 1 percentage point to 52 percent, leaving a 13-point gap between positive and negative assessments. The simultaneous increases indicate that fewer respondents may have withheld judgment, while the broader political divide remained pronounced.

Diplomacy was the most frequently cited reason among respondents who approved of Lee’s performance, accounting for 20 percent of positive assessments. Economic and livelihood issues followed at 11 percent. Among those who disapproved, real estate policy and concerns about the economy and living conditions were among the leading reasons.

The findings underline the political importance of household economic conditions and housing policy even as foreign affairs provide Lee with his strongest area of support. The survey was released as the administration continues to manage pressure over public sentiment and seeks to reverse the downward trend recorded over recent weeks.

The governing Democratic Party also registered a small recovery. Its support rose by 1 percentage point to 36 percent after falling the previous week to its lowest level since the Lee administration began. Support for the main opposition People Power Party increased by the same amount to 27 percent. The nine-point party gap was narrower than the difference between Lee’s positive and negative job ratings.

Gallup Korea said the survey carried a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level. That means the week-to-week shifts should be interpreted cautiously, but the results provide a closely watched snapshot of voter sentiment after the president’s recent polling low.