Cho Kuk, head of the Rebuilding Korea Party's Innovation Policy Institute, criticized the falling approval ratings of President Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party, calling the decline "the result of a strategy to build a 'structural majority' centered on a 'new Lee Jae-myung' while casting out the 'Mun-Cho-Teol-Rae-Yu' group as enemies." The label refers to former President Moon Jae-in, Cho himself, broadcaster Kim Eou-jun, Democratic Party leader Jung Chung-rae and commentator Rhyu Si-min.
Cho made the remarks on the 14th on his Facebook page, where he shared the results of Realmeter's regular opinion poll and said the situation was "serious." He added that "anyone who says governing success, a general election victory and holding on to power can be achieved with a 'new Lee Jae-myung' alone is precisely a treacherous courtier, and anyone who denies the relay of democratic governments and habitually engages in internal division within the camp is a traitor."
According to the Realmeter poll released the same day, Lee's job approval rating fell 3.6 percentage points from the previous week to 33.8%. It marked a ninth straight weekly decline in Realmeter surveys and the lowest level since he took office, while his disapproval rating rose to 63.3%, topping 60% for the first time.
Support for the Democratic Party and the People Power Party also reversed. The People Power Party rose 4.5 percentage points from the previous week to 42.1%, while the Democratic Party fell 5.7 percentage points to 36.1%. The gap between the two parties stood at 6.0 percentage points, the first time the Democratic Party has trailed the People Power Party in 11 weeks, since the fourth week of June.
The survey was conducted by Realmeter at the request of the Energy Economy Newspaper from the 7th to the 11th among 2,515 people aged 18 and older nationwide. The margin of error for the presidential job approval question was plus or minus 2.0 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
