President Moon and Democratic Party Approval Ratings Both Decline Amid Controversies Over Choo's Son and Communication Fees [Realmeter]

- Moon Administration Approval Rating: Positive 45.6%, Negative 50.0%
- Democratic Party at 33.4%, down 4.4 percentage points from last week
- Decline notable among students and housewives sensitive to military service issues

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] A public opinion poll revealed that the approval ratings of President Moon Jae-in and the Democratic Party of Korea have both declined. In particular, the negative evaluation of President Moon exceeded 50%, surpassing the positive evaluation beyond the margin of error. This is interpreted as being influenced by unfairness issues such as the controversy over Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae's son's 'privileged military service' and the controversy over the uniform payment of 20,000 won for communication fees.

According to Realmeter, commissioned by YTN, a public opinion poll conducted from the 7th to the 11th (survey target 55,778 people, respondents 2,521, response rate 4.5%, sampling error ±2.0 percentage points at 95% confidence level, detailed information available on the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website) showed on the 14th that the positive evaluation of President Moon's state affairs management was 45.6%, down 2.5 percentage points from the previous week's weekly aggregate. The negative evaluation rose 1.9 percentage points to 50.0%. This is the first time the negative evaluation has entered the 50% range in three weeks since the third week of August.

The decline in support for the Democratic Party was also notable in party support ratings. The Democratic Party recorded 33.4%, down 4.4 percentage points from the previous week, while the People Power Party rose 1.7 percentage points to 32.7%, narrowing the gap between the two parties to within 1 percentage point. This was followed by the Open Democratic Party at 6.6%, the Justice Party at 5.0%, and the People’s Party at 4.4%.

The decline in approval ratings for President Moon and the ruling party is analyzed to have been most significantly influenced by the controversy over preferential military service for Minister Choo’s son. In fact, starting from the fourth week of August, when the opposition parties began their full-scale offensive, President Moon’s approval rating showed a steep decline. His approval rating rose to 49% in the fourth week of August but dropped to 48.1% this week, falling 3.4 percentage points in two weeks. During the same period, the negative evaluation surged from 46.7% to 50%. The Democratic Party’s support also dropped sharply from 40.4% to 33.4%, moving in a similar trend to President Moon’s approval rating.

In particular, this week, President Moon’s approval rating saw a significant decline among housewives (39.5%, down 9.8 percentage points) and students (34.0%, down 5.7 percentage points) compared to the previous week, and the positive evaluation rate among people in their 20s (36.6%, down 2.4 percentage points) was the lowest among all age groups. All of these groups are sensitive to military service issues.

Meanwhile, the plan to provide 20,000 won in communication fees to all citizens has been evaluated as failing to dramatically shift public opinion and instead causing resentment toward the government and ruling party. Currently, all opposition parties, regardless of conservative or progressive, criticize this plan, and even within the ruling party, potential presidential candidates such as Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung and Gyeongnam Province Governor Kim Kyung-soo have voiced criticism, saying that it is difficult to expect a multiplier effect.

In a public opinion poll on the 20,000 won communication fee support conducted by Realmeter on the 11th at the request of YTN's 'The News,' 58.2% of all respondents evaluated the support plan as a 'wrong action.' Only 37.8% responded that it was a 'right action.' Especially among people in their 30s, who are classified as the core supporters of the government and ruling party, 61.2% responded that it was a 'wrong action,' higher than the overall average.

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