South Korean President Lee Jae-myung Faces Declining Approval Amid Corruption Concerns
A recent poll indicates a shift in public sentiment towards South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, with his approval rating falling for the first time in three weeks amid a controversy surrounding a development case. The dip in support underscores the challenges facing the administration as it navigates political headwinds and seeks to maintain public trust.
According to a survey of 2,510 voters conducted by Realmeter on Thursday, April 18th, at the request of the Energy Economy Newspaper, President Lee’s performance rating registered at 54.5%, a decrease of 2.2 percentage points from the previous week. While positive evaluations had seen a two-week increase, the latest results signal a potential turning point.
The decline is largely attributed to public reaction to the controversy surrounding the abandonment of an appeal in the Daejeon-dong development corruption case. “The strong-arm confrontation and political battle between the ruling and opposition parties over the controversy over the Daejang-dong appeal waiver increased public fatigue and served as the main cause of the decline in the evaluation of government performance,” Realmeter explained.
However, the survey also revealed a slight rebound in approval towards the end of the week, coinciding with the release of a fact sheet detailing diplomatic and security achievements, including plans for the construction of a nuclear-powered submarine. This suggests that positive developments in foreign policy may offer a counterbalance to domestic concerns.
Looking at the daily trends, President Lee’s positive rating rose from 55.0% on April 7th to 56% on April 11th, before beginning a downward trend, reaching 52.5% on April 12th and 52.1% on April 13th. The rating briefly recovered to 54.8% on April 14th before falling again.
The survey also highlighted shifts in support across different demographic groups. Moderate voters showed a 2.3 percentage point decrease in positive evaluation, dropping from 59.8% to 57.5%. Regionally, support declined in most areas except Daejeon, Sejong, and Chungcheong, which saw a 3.2 percentage point increase. The largest declines in approval were observed among voters aged 70 and older (a 7 percentage point drop) and those in their 30s (a 3 percentage point drop).
Parallel to the presidential approval rating, a separate political party support survey conducted on April 13th and 14th among 1,006 voters showed continued gains for the Democratic Party of Korea, reaching 46.7%, up 0.2 percentage points from the previous week. Conversely, the People Power Party experienced a decline, falling 0.6 percentage points to 34.2% – its second consecutive week of losses. This widened the gap between the two leading parties to 12.5 percentage points, up from 11.7 percentage points the prior week.
Other parties saw modest gains, with the Fatherland Innovation Party at 3.2% (up 0.7 percentage points), the New Reform Party at 3.1% (up 1.1 percentage points), the Progressive Party at 1.0% (up 0.2 percentage points), and independents at 9.1% (up 0.4 percentage points).
For more detailed information on the survey methodology and complete results, please refer to the National Election Opinion Survey Deliberation Committee website.
