President Moon's Approval Rating at 52%... Support Among 20s Plummets [Gallup]

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] A public opinion poll revealed that President Moon Jae-in's approval rating for his administration has continued to decline, falling to the low 50% range. The departure of support from people in their 20s, due to the regularization of security personnel at Incheon International Airport, known as the 'In-guk-gong incident,' was particularly notable.

Korea Gallup announced on the 26th that a survey conducted from the 23rd to the 25th among 1,001 adults aged 18 and older showed that 52% of respondents gave a positive evaluation of President Moon's job performance. This is a 3 percentage point drop compared to the previous week. On the other hand, negative evaluations rose by 4 percentage points to 39%.

By age group, the positive/negative ratings were 41%/47% for ages 18-29, 57%/34% for those in their 30s, 68%/27% for those in their 40s, 56%/38% for those in their 50s, and 41%/46% for those aged 60 and above. Notably, the decline in positive ratings and rise in negative ratings this week were prominent among people in their 20s (53%/32% → 41%/47%), which is interpreted as being influenced by the 'In-guk-gong incident' that sparked controversy over unfairness.

Looking at support by political party, 84% of supporters of the Democratic Party of Korea evaluated the president's job performance positively, while 81% of supporters of the United Future Party were negative. Among those without party affiliation, negative ratings also led, with the gap widening from 10 percentage points two weeks ago to 31 percentage points this week.

When asked why they positively evaluated the president's job performance (519 respondents), the reasons were 'response to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19)' (33%), 'overall good performance' (9%), 'expansion of welfare' (6%), 'doing their best/working hard' and 'efforts for ordinary people' (both 5%), 'relations with North Korea' and 'diplomacy/international relations' (both 4%), 'considering the people's position,' 'stability/calmness of the country,' and 'faithfulness to basics/principles/fairness' (all 3%). COVID-19 related responses have been the top reason for positive evaluations for 20 consecutive weeks, although their proportion decreased compared to last week.

Among those who negatively evaluated the president's job performance (389 respondents), the reasons cited were 'relations with North Korea' (19%), 'lack of solutions to economic and livelihood issues' (15%), 'overall inadequacy' (13%), 'real estate policy' (8%), 'North Korean nuclear issue and security' and 'arbitrary/one-sided/biased' (both 4%), 'inadequate COVID-19 response,' and 'regularization of non-regular workers at Incheon International Airport' (both 3%). Mentions related to North Korea, which had increased significantly last week, decreased, and 'Yoon Mee-hyang/Justice Party' disappeared from the rankings. Instead, criticism of real estate policy increased, and the In-guk-gong incident newly appeared.

Party support was 41% for the Democratic Party of Korea, 20% for the United Future Party, 8% for the Justice Party, 4% for the Open Democratic Party, and 3% for the People's Party. By political orientation, 64% of progressives supported the Democratic Party, and 54% of conservatives supported the United Future Party. Among centrists, 37% supported the Democratic Party, 13% the United Future Party, and 30% did not specify a party. The proportion of those without party affiliation was highest among people in their 20s at 40%.

Meanwhile, regarding next year's minimum wage, 28% said it should be increased compared to this year, 11% said it should be decreased, and 56% said it should be maintained at this year's level.

Among most respondent characteristics, the opinion to maintain the current level was dominant. The response to increase the minimum wage compared to this year was higher among supporters of the Justice Party (49%), progressives (40%), and those in their 30s and 40s (37%). The response to decrease was relatively higher among supporters of the United Future Party and conservatives (both 24%), and among self-employed workers (19%).

This survey contacted 8,192 adults aged 18 and older nationwide, with a final 1,001 respondents completing the survey, recording a 12% response rate. The sampling error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For more details, refer to the website of the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission.

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