Gallup "President Yoon's Approval Rating Drops by Largest Margin Since Inauguration... Falls Sharply by 6%p to 32%"

Gallup "Support Rates Decline Across Most Generations and Regions"
Potential Public Opinion Shift After Japan's Nuclear Wastewater Discharge Confirmed

President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating for his administration has dropped by the largest margin since his inauguration, falling to the low 30% range. This decline is mainly attributed to respondents who had previously delayed judgment on the issue of the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, turning away after observing the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report and the South Korea-Japan summit.

According to Gallup's regular weekly survey conducted from the 11th to the 13th (a telephone interviewer survey of 1,001 adults aged 18 and over nationwide), President Yoon's approval rating was 32%, down 6 percentage points from the previous week's survey. Negative evaluations that the administration is performing poorly rose by 3 percentage points to 57%.

A 6 percentage point drop in Gallup's weekly survey is considered unusually large. Gallup explained, "This week's change (38% → 32%) is the largest weekly drop, second only to the one a year ago (late June 2022 43% → early July 37%)."

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Notably, the approval rating decline appeared across most respondent characteristics. The drop was especially significant among the undecided voters, politically indifferent groups, and in regions such as Gwangju-Jeolla and Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam, as well as among self-employed workers.

Gallup analyzed the change in President Yoon's approval rating, stating, "It seems closely related to the confirmation of the marine discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant following the release of the IAEA final report last week." They added, "The acceptance of this possibility as a given fact and intensified opposition party attacks appear to have influenced the politically indifferent groups who had been observing cautiously, as well as some southern regions with a high proportion of marine and fisheries-related industries."

However, Gallup also showed caution regarding this approval rating drop, saying, "It is not possible to definitively determine the cause of the sudden change based solely on this week's survey results; it will become clearer after some time has passed."

Besides the Fukushima contaminated water discharge issue, changes such as the alteration of the Seoul-Yangpyeong expressway terminus and the decision to scrap the project are also analyzed to have partially influenced the approval rating change. Among those who supported President Yoon, the reason 'eradication of corruption and bribery' fell by 3 percentage points, while among those who gave negative evaluations, 'Yangpyeong expressway issue' (1%) was newly added as a reason for disapproval.

There was little change in party support between last week and this week. The People Power Party and the Democratic Party of Korea were surveyed at 33% and 32%, respectively, the same as last week. The Justice Party rose by 1 percentage point to 5%.

For detailed survey methodology and results related to the poll, please refer to the website of the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission.

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