Presidential Office Responds to Approval Rating Falling to 30% Range: "We Will Work Hard Focusing Only on the People"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] On the 29th, as a poll showed that President Yoon Seok-yeol's approval rating for his administration fell below the 30% mark for the first time since his inauguration, the Blue House stated, "Whether the approval rating goes up or down, we will not be swayed and will focus solely on the people and work hard."

At a briefing held at the Yongsan Presidential Office building on the same day, a Blue House official responded to a reporter's question asking, "President Yoon's approval rating has dropped to the 20% range for the first time. How do you perceive this, and how do you plan to rebound?" with the above statement.

Regarding what "working hard" means, the official said, "In any case, at this point in time, it means finding out what needs to be done and working harder. There are very complex reasons for the approval rating going up and down," adding that all aides are thinking and reflecting on this.

He continued, "Rather than everyone, including the president, doing something specifically to raise the approval rating, we intend to find and diligently carry out what we originally planned to do and what we aimed to do better," adding, "If we quietly persevere, I believe the public will eventually reconsider our sincerity and the work we want to accomplish."

According to a survey conducted by Gallup Korea from the 26th to the 28th among 1,000 adults aged 18 and over nationwide, 28% responded that President Yoon is "doing well" in his duties, while 62% said he is "doing poorly."

Among those who gave negative evaluations, 21% cited personnel issues as the main reason, followed by lack of experience, qualifications, incompetence, and neglect of the economy and people's livelihoods, each accounting for 8%.

There were also responses citing the establishment of the Police Bureau (4%) and internal conflicts within the ruling party, including the exposure of text messages from Representative Kwon Seong-dong, acting party leader and floor leader (3%), as factors for negative evaluations.

President Yoon's positive job performance rating has been declining for over a month since the second week of June, when it was 53%. Although the decline seemed to stop last week at 32%, it dropped further this week. Since the second week of June, negative evaluations have risen from the low 30% range to 62% this week.

The margin of error for this survey is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. It was conducted via telephone interviews, with 90% mobile and 10% landline calls, and the response rate was 11.1%. For detailed poll information, please refer to the respective polling agency's website and the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.

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