Approval 37%, Disapproval 56% — Record Low and High Since Inauguration
Gallup Korea surveyed 1,002 voters aged 18 and older nationwide from Sept. 15 to 17, and 37% said Lee was "doing a good job," down 1 percentage point from the previous survey.
By contrast, 56% said he was "doing a poor job," up 5 percentage points from the previous week. Seven percent withheld an opinion.
Among those who approved, "diplomacy" was the most cited reason at 26%, followed by "the economy and livelihoods" at 11%, "doing well overall" at 6% and "policies for ordinary people and welfare" at 5%. "Works hard/makes an effort," "job competence," "communication," "national stability and normalization" and "change and innovation" each drew 3%.
Among those who disapproved, "real estate policy" was the top reason at 20%, followed by "personnel appointments" at 16% and "the economy and livelihoods" at 9%. "Curbing prosecutorial powers," "questions of integrity and avoiding his own trials" and "doing poorly overall" each drew 5%.
Gallup Korea said, "The real estate issue has ranked as the top reason for disapproval since the fourth week of July, and personnel issues have held second place since the cabinet appointments."
Democratic Party 40%, People Power Party 27% — a 13-Point Gap
In party support, the Democratic Party of Korea rose 2 percentage points from the previous survey to 40%. The People Power Party fell 2 percentage points to 27%, widening the gap between the two parties to 13 percentage points.
The Rebuilding Korea Party and the Reform Party each drew 3%, and the Progressive Party 1%. Those who said they supported no party accounted for 25%.
The survey was conducted through interviews by telephone operators using randomly extracted virtual mobile numbers provided by the country's three wireless carriers. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, with a response rate of 9.8%. Further details are available on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.
