President Moon's Approval Rating at 47.4%... 'COVID-19' Impact Still Minimal [Realmeter]

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Amid the sharp rise in the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), President Moon Jae-in's approval rating for his administration's performance has shown little change so far.

According to Realmeter's survey conducted on behalf of YTN from the 17th to the 21st, the positive evaluation of President Moon's administration rose by 0.8 percentage points from the previous week's aggregate to 47.4%, the agency announced on the 24th. The negative evaluation dropped by 0.6 percentage points to 49.1%.

President Moon's approval rating gap between positive and negative evaluations narrowed compared to the previous week, but it has shown a mixed trend within the margin of error for three consecutive weeks, moving within a box range.

In Daejeon, Sejong, and Chungcheong regions, the approval rating rose by 5.8 percentage points from 41.8% the previous week to 47.6%, and in Seoul, it increased by 5.1 percentage points to 47.2%. On the other hand, in Gwangju and Jeolla, the approval rating fell by 5.4 percentage points from 72.2% the previous week to 66.8%.

Among those in their 20s, the approval rating rose by 3.6 percentage points to 47.1%, with students (48.9%) and office workers (59.5%) showing a majority of positive evaluations. Among the unemployed and self-employed, negative evaluations were higher than positive ones, at 60.7% and 56.7%, respectively.

Realmeter predicted, "As COVID-19 confirmed cases surge rapidly, it may also affect the future trend of government performance evaluations."

In party support, the Democratic Party of Korea returned to the 40% range with a 0.6 percentage point increase to 40.5% compared to the previous week. The newly launched United Future Party recorded 33.7%. This is lower than the combined support ratings of the Liberty Korea Party and the New Conservative Party, which formed the core of the merger, in the previous survey.

Other parties were surveyed as follows: Justice Party 4.1%, Bareunmirae Party 3.0%, People's Party 2.3%, Party for Democracy and Peace 2.2%, Republican Party 1.5%, Alternative New Party 1.3%, and Minjung Party 1.0%.

This survey contacted 45,462 voters aged 18 and over nationwide, with a final response of 2,512 people, recording a response rate of 5.5%. The sampling error is ±2.0 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For more details, refer to the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.