Lee's Approval Rebounds After Honam Chip Investment Announcement

President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating halted a seven-week decline and rebounded, according to a Realmeter poll. The turnaround is interpreted as a result of Lee announcing three mega-projects, including a semiconductor investment in the Honam region, while emphasizing regionally driven growth. Party support ratings, which had seen a golden cross, also reversed again, with the Democratic Party rising and the People Power Party falling.

Realmeter conducted the survey of 2,525 people aged 18 and older nationwide from Jan. 29 to Feb. 3, commissioned by Energy Economy Newspaper, and released the results Feb. 6. The positive assessment of Lee's handling of state affairs came to 47.0 percent, up 0.5 percentage point from the previous week.

The negative assessment fell 0.3 percentage point from the previous week to 49.2 percent, exceeding the positive assessment within the margin of error (±2.0 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level). Those who responded "don't know" accounted for 2.2 percent.

"The government's announcement of three mega-projects — large-scale regional investments in the southwestern, Chungcheong and Yeongnam regions — served as a positive signal for the approval rebound," Realmeter said. "But with adverse factors for perceived economic conditions continuing, such as a sharp stock decline and a high exchange rate, the gain was limited to a modest level."

In the party support survey of 1,008 people aged 18 and older nationwide conducted Feb. 2-3, the Democratic Party of Korea recorded 43.0 percent and the People Power Party 40.3 percent. The Democratic Party rose 2.0 percentage points and the People Power Party fell 1.7 percentage points, reversing the ranking again. The New Reform Party recorded 3.0 percent support, the Rebuilding Korea Party 1.9 percent, and the Progressive Party 1.6 percent.

The presidential job-performance survey had a margin of error of ±2.0 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level and a response rate of 4.0 percent. The party support survey had a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level and a response rate of 2.8 percent. Further details can be found on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.