President Moon's Approval Rating Hits New Low at 37.1%... Democratic Party Rebounds to Regain Lead [Realmeter]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] A public opinion poll revealed that President Moon Jae-in's approval rating for his administration has once again hit a record low. However, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) regained the lead by surpassing the People Power Party (PPP), recovering to the 30% range. This appears to reflect the consolidation effect among core supporters following the DPK's unilateral passage of key reform bills, including the Economic Three Laws (Commercial Act, Fair Trade Act, and Financial Group Supervision Act) and the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (HOCI) Act.

According to Realmeter's survey commissioned by tbs conducted from the 7th to the 9th, the positive evaluation of President Moon's administration dropped by 0.3 percentage points from the previous week's aggregate to 37.1% as of the 10th. This marks a record low for two consecutive weeks in the 30% range. Negative evaluations rose by 0.8 percentage points to 58.2%. The gap between positive and negative evaluations stands at 21.1 percentage points, which is outside the margin of error.

In particular, by ideological inclination, the approval rating decline was significant among progressives (6.0 percentage points) and moderates (2.2 percentage points). Support among pro-government camp voters, such as those backing the Open Democratic Party (14.2 percentage points) and the Justice Party (11.0 percentage points), also dropped sharply. However, regions like Gwangju and Jeolla (7.4 percentage points) and Daejeon, Sejong, and Chungcheong (6.6 percentage points), which had recorded double-digit declines the previous week, showed signs of recovery.

Factors likely influencing these results include President Moon's expression of regret over the conflict between Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, the resurgence of COVID-19 infections, and vaccination plans.

Regarding party support, the DPK recorded 31.4%, up 1.7 percentage points from the previous week, reclaiming the top spot from the PPP, which stood at 30.5%. Notably, the DPK saw significant gains among its traditional support bases, including Honam (6.9 percentage points) and progressives (2.9 percentage points). The strong push for reform legislation such as the HOCI Act appears to have resonated with its supporters.

In Seoul, where next year's mayoral by-election will be held, the DPK led with 32.6%, ahead of the PPP's 29.4%. In the Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam (PK) region, a key indicator for the Busan mayoral by-election, the PPP recorded 46.4%, more than double the DPK's 23.0%.

Support for parties outside the two major ones was as follows: People Party 7.1%, Open Democratic Party 6.1%, Justice Party 4.9%, and Basic Income Party 1.1%.

The survey contacted 34,255 voters aged 18 and over nationwide, with 1,509 completing the responses, resulting in a 4.4% response rate. The sampling error is ±2.5 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.