President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating edged down to 37.4%, slipping for the first time in three weeks.
Pollster Realmeter surveyed 2,515 adults aged 18 and over nationwide from Sept. 28 through Oct. 2 and found that positive assessments of Lee's performance fell 0.5 percentage points from the previous week to 37.4%. Negative assessments also declined, dropping 0.3 percentage points to 59.8%. Those who said they did not know accounted for 2.8%.
Among conservatives, support fell 2.2 percentage points to 14.1%, while backing among progressives dropped 1.1 percentage points to 54.4%. Moderates moved in the opposite direction, rising 2.8 percentage points from the previous survey to 42.7%.
Realmeter said positive factors included the announcement of livelihood and welfare measures funded by 63 trillion won in excess tax revenue. But the pollster said confidence in the administration slipped as negative developments in personnel, security and household economics weighed more heavily, citing the creation of a new prosecution office and a major crimes investigation agency along with controversy over the appointment of Kim Ji-yong to head the latter, a landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone, diplomatic friction with Ukraine, and instability in the Seoul metropolitan area's rental market.
By region, support fell 8.1 percentage points from the previous week to 57.4% in South Jeolla/Gwangju and Jeonbuk State, while rising 7.3 percentage points to 29.2% in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province. By age group, support dropped 2.2 percentage points among people in their 30s and 2.0 percentage points among those in their 50s, but rose 1.1 percentage points among those in their 20s.
A separate party support survey of 1,009 adults aged 18 and over nationwide, conducted Oct. 1-2, put the Democratic Party at 42.5% and the People Power Party at 38.4%. The Democratic Party gained 3.8 percentage points from the previous week, while the People Power Party lost 1.0 percentage point. The 4.1-percentage-point gap between the two parties kept the race within the margin of error for a seventh straight week. The Rebuilding Korea Party rose 1.2 percentage points to 5.2%, while the New Reform Party fell 1.4 percentage points to 1.5%.
Both surveys were conducted entirely by automated response system on mobile phones, using random digit dialing from a randomly generated sampling frame. The presidential approval survey had a response rate of 3.9% and a margin of error of plus or minus 2.0 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. The party support survey had a response rate of 3.0% and a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. Further details are available on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.
