Moon's Approval Rating Recovers to 40% Range... Four Leading Candidates Face Off: Lee 40%, Yoon 29%, Lee 24%, Choi 17% [Gallup]

Party Support, Democratic Party 32% vs People Power Party 31%
Presidential Candidate Favorability, Lee Jae-myung 40%, Yoon Seok-youl 29%, Lee Nak-yeon 24%, Choi Jae-hyung 17%

Head-to-Head Virtual Matchup, Lee Jae-myung 46% vs Yoon Seok-youl 34%
Yoon Seok-youl and Lee Nak-yeon tied at 36%

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] President Moon Jae-in's approval rating recovered to the 40% range after one week. This is interpreted as a positive evaluation of events such as the repatriation of General Hong Beom-do's remains.

On the 20th, Gallup Korea conducted a public opinion survey from the 17th to the 19th targeting 1,001 adults nationwide aged 18 and over (response rate 15%). The positive evaluation of President Moon's job performance, described as "doing well," rose by 4 percentage points from the previous week to 40%, marking a rebound after one week.

The reasons for positive evaluation were 'COVID-19 response' (33%), 'diplomacy and international relations' (15%), 'doing one's best/working hard' (5%), 'overall good performance' (4%), followed by 'economic policy,' 'welfare expansion,' and 'North Korea relations' (all 3%). Compared to last week, the proportion citing diplomacy increased, and among minority responses, 'honoring national merit recipients' was included.

Party support showed that the Democratic Party of Korea continued to decline from 35% in the fifth week of July to 32%. The People Power Party rose by 3 percentage points from the previous week to 31%, narrowing the gap between the two parties to 1 percentage point. The non-affiliated group without party support accounted for 24%, the Justice Party 5%, the Open Democratic Party 4%, the People’s Party 3%, and other parties and organizations combined 1%.

In this survey, Gallup asked about the favorability of four major figures from both ruling and opposition parties who are mentioned as next political leaders (order rotated). The results showed Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung at 40%, former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl at 29%, former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon at 24%, and former Board of Audit and Inspection Chairman Choi Jae-hyung at 17%.

Gallup explained, "Individual favorability is a reference for gauging not only the core favorable group within one's own party supporters but also the potential for expansion among supporters of other parties." For reference, in the first week of August, the preference for next political leader (open-ended, not multiple choice) was Lee Jae-myung 25%, Yoon Seok-youl 19%, Lee Nak-yeon 11%, and Choi Jae-hyung 4%.

By candidate, former Prosecutor General Yoon had high favorability among People Power Party supporters (66%) and conservative-leaning groups (54%). Favorability by age was around 20% for those in their 20s to 40s, 33% for those in their 50s, and 45% for those aged 60 and above. About six out of ten people who favored Choi Jae-hyung, who belongs to the same party, also showed favorability toward Yoon Seok-youl.

Former leader Lee Nak-yeon’s favorability was relatively high in the Gwangju and Jeolla regions (45%), Democratic Party supporters (41%), and progressive-leaning groups (38%). Among those who favored Lee Jae-myung from the same party, 62% said they did not favor Lee Nak-yeon, reflecting the current intense intra-party primary atmosphere.

Governor Lee Jae-myung had relatively high favorability among Democratic Party supporters (65%), progressive-leaning groups (63%), and those in their 40s and 50s (in the 50% range). Among those who favored Lee Nak-yeon from the same party, opinions on Lee Jae-myung’s favorability were split almost evenly at 50% favorable and 46% unfavorable.

Former Chairman Choi Jae-hyung had relatively high favorability among People Power Party supporters (34%) and conservative-leaning groups (28%). Among those who favored Yoon Seok-youl from the same party, opinions on Choi Jae-hyung’s favorability were almost evenly divided at 36% favorable and 42% unfavorable. One in four voters did not express favorability toward him. Gallup analyzed that "his recognition and image as a politician are not yet firmly established."

Meanwhile, in a hypothetical one-on-one race between Yoon Seok-youl and Lee Jae-myung, 34% of voters chose Yoon, 46% chose Lee, 3% chose other figures, and 16% did not choose anyone. In a hypothetical race between Yoon Seok-youl and Lee Nak-yeon, both received 36%, with 7% choosing others and 21% undecided.

This survey was conducted through random sampling from a mobile phone RDD sample frame (including 15% landline RDD) and telephone interviewer interviews. The sampling error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. Detailed survey results can be found on the Gallup Korea or the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission websites.

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