President Moon and Ruling Party Approval Ratings Surge... 'Jeon Gwang-hoon Effect' [Gallup]

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Amid the resurgence of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), a public opinion poll showed a moderate increase in approval ratings for President Moon Jae-in and the ruling party. It appears that the spread of negative public opinion regarding Pastor Jeon Gwang-hoon's encouragement to participate in the Liberation Day rally at Sarang Jeil Church influenced this result.

Korea Gallup announced on the 21st that in a survey conducted from the 7th to the 9th among 1,002 adults aged 18 and over regarding President Moon's job performance, 47% of respondents gave a positive evaluation. This is an 8 percentage point increase from the previous week. Negative evaluations dropped by 8 percentage points to 45%.

In particular, among those who positively evaluated President Moon's job performance, the most cited reason was 'COVID-19 response' (37%).

Gallup analyzed, "Until last week, the most notable issue over the past two months was the real estate problem, which was the main cause of negative public opinion formation. However, with the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases centered around churches in the metropolitan area over the past weekend, interest and expectations regarding the success of quarantine measures seem to have been reflected in the results."

The ruling Democratic Party's approval rating also rose by 6 percentage points from the previous week to 39%. Meanwhile, the United Future Party's approval rating fell by 4 percentage points to 23%. The Justice Party recorded 7%, the People's Party 4%, and the Open Democratic Party 3%, respectively.

Meanwhile, in the Democratic Party's leadership preference survey, candidate Lee Nak-yeon ranked first with an overwhelming lead, receiving 48% preference. Candidate Kim Boo-kyum received 15%, and candidate Park Joo-min received 8%.

Gallup explained, "Among respondents who support the Democratic Party, Lee Nak-yeon received dominant support at 71%, while Kim Boo-kyum and Park Joo-min each received similar support of around 10%."

This survey contacted 6,280 adults aged 18 and over nationwide, with a final 1,002 respondents completing the survey, recording a 16% response rate. The sampling error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For more details, refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.

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