Yoon's Approval Rating Falls for 3 Consecutive Weeks... 'Jeondae Money Envelope' Causes Democratic Party to Fluctuate by 3.1%p

Democratic Party 45.7%, People Power Party 34.5%

President Yoon Suk-yeol and the Democratic Party of Korea's approval ratings both declined. President Yoon's approval rating fell for the third consecutive week, dropping to the low 30% range, while the Democratic Party's rating also fluctuated amid controversy over the money envelope allegations at the party convention.

According to a regular public opinion poll released on the 24th by polling agency Realmeter (conducted via ARS automated response method over five days from the 17th to the 21st, targeting 2,520 adults aged 18 and over nationwide, commissioned by Media Tribune), President Yoon's approval rating for his state affairs management recorded 32.6%, down 1.0 percentage point from the previous week's survey.

President Yoon Suk-yeol is being interviewed by Reuters at the Presidential Office in Yongsan, Seoul, on the 18th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Realmeter explained, "President Yoon's approval rating recorded the low 40% range in the first week of March but has since shown a gradual decline, falling to the low 30% range."

The daily index of President Yoon's state affairs management evaluation showed a recovery from 32.3% (on the 18th) to 33.8% (on the 20th) early last week but fell again to 31.5% on the 21st. The negative evaluation of state affairs management rose 1.3 percentage points from the previous survey to 64.7%.

President Yoon sparked diplomatic controversy after mentioning the possibility of weapons support to Ukraine and the Taiwan issue in an interview with Reuters released on the 19th. He conditionally suggested weapons support to Ukraine in response to Russia's military attacks, describing them as a 'large-scale civilian attack' and an 'unforgivable massacre.' Regarding the Taiwan Strait issue, he stated, "We stand with the international community in absolutely opposing any change of the status quo by force," which drew backlash from China.

President Yoon's approval rating notably dropped in Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam (down 5.6 percentage points, from 41.3% to 35.7%), Daegu and Gyeongbuk (down 3.8 percentage points, from 48.9% to 45.1%), among people in their 20s (down 4.3 percentage points, from 28.3% to 24.0%), and those aged 70 and above (down 3.7 percentage points, from 56.6% to 52.9%).

In terms of party support, the Democratic Party's approval rating fell by 3.1 percentage points to 45.7%, the People Power Party rose by 0.6 percentage points to 34.5%, and the Justice Party declined by 0.1 percentage points to 3.3%. The proportion of undecided voters increased by 2.0 percentage points to 14.2%.

The Democratic Party's approval rating saw significant drops in Honam (down 9.4 percentage points), Daegu and Gyeongbuk (down 9.2 percentage points), Seoul (down 4.5 percentage points), people in their 60s (down 9.6 percentage points), and those in their 30s (down 7.4 percentage points).

For more details, please refer to the website of the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission.

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