Yoon's Approval Rating Remains at 30% After Itaewon Tragedy... 'Support Base Strengthened'

Yoon President's Approval Rating Rises by 1%P in Gallup Poll
Positive Assessment of Governance Leads Negative Among 60s and 70s
Despite 70% Saying 'Inappropriate Disaster Response,' Support Base Grows Larger

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Although the follow-up measures after the Itaewon tragedy have been widely criticized as inadequate, President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating has remained relatively stable. This is interpreted as a result of his support base rallying during the crisis.

According to a regular public opinion poll conducted by Gallup from the 8th to the 10th (a telephone interview survey of 1,006 adults aged 18 and over nationwide), 30% of respondents evaluated President Yoon's performance in office as "good," while 62% gave a negative evaluation of "poor." Compared to last week's survey, support increased by 1 percentage point, and negative evaluations decreased by 1 percentage point.

This trend is also confirmed in other polls. In the Media Tomato poll released on the same day (commissioned by News Tomato and conducted via wireless ARS over two days from the 8th to the 9th, surveying 1,058 adults aged 18 and over nationwide), President Yoon's approval rating was 32.8%, up 0.9 percentage points from the previous week. However, negative evaluations also rose by 0.4 percentage points.

In the R&Search poll conducted on the 9th (commissioned by News Pim and conducted via wireless ARS from the 5th to the 7th, surveying 1,023 adults aged 18 and over nationwide), President Yoon's approval rating increased by 2.7 percentage points from the previous week to 38.2%.

Despite the Itaewon tragedy and other issues, the rise in President Yoon's approval rating appears to be due to the consolidation of his support base. Public opinion regarding the government's handling and responsibility for the Itaewon tragedy tends to be strongly negative. In the Gallup poll, when asked whether the government's response and handling of the tragedy were appropriate, 20% responded "appropriate," 70% said "inappropriate," and 10% answered "don't know" or refused to respond. Regarding responsibility for the tragedy, the president and government were identified by 20% as most responsible, followed by the police and command (17%), and the parties involved (14%).

Looking at detailed items related to President Yoon's approval rating, respondents from Daegu and Gyeongbuk showed a positive evaluation of 50%, surpassing the negative evaluation of 41%, unlike last week. Compared to last week's survey, support among People Power Party supporters and conservative-leaning voters also increased. The approval rating among People Power Party supporters rose from 65% to 69%, and among conservative respondents from 50% to 55%.

Approval ratings by age group were 16% for those in their 20s (ages 18-29), 18% for those in their 30s, 15% for those in their 40s, 33% for those in their 50s, 52% for those in their 60s, and 52% for those aged 70 and above. Last week, negative evaluations outnumbered positive ones in all age groups except those in their 70s, but this time, the 60s age group also showed more positive than negative evaluations.

Approval ratings can also be analyzed through internet search big data. Asia Economy analyzed search terms related to President Yoon over the past month using the big data analysis platform SomeTrend by Vibe Company (formerly Daumsoft). Both positive and negative search terms increased. Between the 4th week of October and the 1st week of November, "criticism" rose from 214 to 385 cases, and "support" increased from 208 to 398 cases. This shows that support for President Yoon is as significant as criticism.

For detailed survey outlines and results related to public opinion polls, please refer to the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.

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