Yoon's Approval Rating Drops, Expands Beyond Margin of Error... ruling party: "Not Absolute but Important Indicator"

Positive 42.6%·Negative 53%
Ruling Party's Concern Grows Over Declining Approval... "Difficult to Rise Quickly"
Opposition Intensifies Attacks... "Thoroughly Ignoring Public Opinion"

President Yoon Suk-yeol (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy reporters Hyunju Lee, Boryeong Geum, and Juni Park] A public opinion poll released on the 6th showed that President Yoon Seok-yeol's approval rating has not only crossed the dead cross but the gap between negative and positive evaluations has further widened beyond the margin of error. Repeated controversies over personnel appointments and communication failures due to message delivery issues are cited as the main reasons. With negotiations over the parliamentary organization ahead, the ruling party appears anxious that the weakening of government momentum could negatively affect its control over the political situation.

According to a survey conducted by R&Search on behalf of NewsPim from the 2nd to the 4th among 1,028 people nationwide aged 18 and over, 42.6% responded that President Yoon is "doing well" in his state affairs, while 53.0% said he is "doing poorly." Since the first dead cross recorded two weeks ago in the same survey, positive ratings have steadily declined and negative ratings have continued to rise, widening the gap beyond the margin of error (±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level; for details, refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website). By age group, negative evaluations exceeded 60% among those in their 20s and 40s. In particular, negative ratings among people in their 20s rose from 53.4% last week to 61.3%, an increase of 7.9 percentage points in just one week. This survey was conducted via wireless automated response system (ARS), with a response rate of 3.5%.

President Yoon recently stated that he "does not dwell" on the poll results. However, voices expressing concern over the declining approval ratings are growing within the ruling party. Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, said on the radio that day, "Having a high approval rating is necessary to gain momentum and confidence in running the government," adding, "While approval ratings are not absolute, I think they are a very important indicator." He continued, "Given the current difficult economic and livelihood situation, if livelihood issues do not improve and internal party conflicts are not resolved early, I believe it will be difficult for these approval ratings to rise in a short period."

Regarding President Yoon’s remarks that the falling approval ratings are "not very meaningful," Floor Leader Kwon explained, "He made that defensive comment to stay centered and confident, saying 'I will lead things this way.'"

The opposition’s offensive is expected to intensify. They have pointed to personnel controversies, unilateral and autocratic communication, and indifference to the economy and people’s livelihoods as major reasons for negative evaluations, raising the level of criticism. Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, warned at an emergency committee meeting that day, "The president says he does not care about approval ratings and is thoroughly ignoring public opinion," adding, "Running the government while blocking out the people's voices and ignoring their expectations will trigger a massive public rebellion in South Korea." He also said, "The Minister of Health and Welfare has fallen twice, and when compared to previous administrations, the ruling party’s claim that 'we are better' has even drawn criticism from within the party."

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