President Lee Jae-myung's job approval rating rose 1 percentage point, halting a 10-week slide, according to a poll released on the 21st. Analysts attributed the gain to Lee's press conference, where he laid out his positions on major political issues in what was seen as a head-on approach. The survey period ended before Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won stepped down on the 19th amid additional allegations, so reaction to his withdrawal was not reflected.
According to the survey by pollster Realmeter, commissioned by Energy Economy Newspaper and conducted from the 14th to the 18th among 2,507 voters aged 18 and over nationwide, Lee's job approval rating stood at 34.8%, up 1 percentage point from the previous week. It was the first increase in 10 weeks.
Realmeter said the rating continued to decline early in the week amid controversy over personnel vetting and the fallout from confirmation hearings, but turned higher late in the week after Lee used a press conference to state his positions on key political issues including a second term, the withdrawal of indictments and troop deployments, while stressing his commitment to reforming state affairs.
Negative assessments rose 0.1 percentage point to 63.4%. The gap between positive and negative assessments was 28.6 percentage points, outside the margin of error. Respondents who said they did not know accounted for 1.8%.
In a separate party support survey Realmeter conducted from the 17th to the 18th among 1,003 voters aged 18 and over nationwide, the Democratic Party of Korea drew 40.2%, up 4.1 percentage points from the previous survey. The People Power Party fell 3.6 percentage points to 38.5%. The two parties have remained in a tight race within the margin of error for five straight weeks.
Realmeter said the Democratic Party's gain appeared to reflect the prominence of Lee's positions and policy messages from the press conference, which consolidated support in the greater Seoul area and among young adults. It said the People Power Party pursued a hard line during the standoff with the ruling party over the confirmation hearings, including street protests and talk of impeachment, but that the approach failed to rally its base while support eroded among young adults and moderate conservatives, pushing its rating lower.
The Rebuilding Korea Party extended its gains for a fifth straight week, rising 0.5 percentage point from the previous week to 5.2%. The Reform Party drew 1.9%, the Progressive Party 0.9%, other parties 2.4%, and unaffiliated voters 11%.
The survey was conducted entirely by automated response calls to mobile phones. The margin of error was plus or minus 2.0 percentage points at a 95% confidence level for the presidential job approval survey and plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level for the party support survey. Further details are available on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.
