Gallup "Yoon Approval Rating Slightly Rises... Independent Voters Reach Highest Since Current Government Inauguration"

President Yoon's Approval Rating Rises 1%p to 33%
People Power Party 33%, Democratic Party 30%, Independents 32%

Amid nationwide heavy rain damage, President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating for his administration slightly increased. While the support rate for the Democratic Party of Korea slightly declined, the proportion of non-affiliated voters reached its highest level since the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol government.

According to Gallup's regular survey conducted from the 18th to the 20th (a telephone interviewer survey of 1,001 adults aged 18 and over nationwide), President Yoon's approval rating rose by 1 percentage point from the previous week to 33%. Negative evaluations that he is performing poorly also increased by 1 percentage point to 58%.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Last week, President Yoon experienced the largest drop in approval rating since his inauguration, falling by 6 percentage points, but this week showed a slight rebound.

Among respondents who supported President Yoon's administration (334 people, open-ended responses), reasons cited included "diplomacy" (32%), "defense and security" (6%), and "decisiveness, drive, and perseverance" (6%). Those who negatively evaluated his administration cited reasons such as "diplomacy" (12%), "economy, livelihood, and prices" (9%), "authoritarian and unilateral" (8%), "lack of communication," and "disaster response" (both 7%).

Gallup commented, "The presidential job approval ratings are virtually unchanged from last week, and the reasons for positive evaluations remain the same." They added, "Among the reasons cited by those with negative evaluations, issues related to disaster and livelihood response have emerged, while concerns about Fukushima water discharge have decreased. Last week, President Yoon, who attended the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit and toured Lithuania and Poland, visited war-torn Ukraine just before returning home. At that time, heavy rain caused flooding accidents such as the underground passage flooding in Osong, Cheongju, and damage from heavy rain was reported nationwide."

In terms of party support, the People Power Party maintained the same 33% as the previous week. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party's support rate dropped by 2 percentage points to 30%. The proportion of non-affiliated voters recorded 32%. A Gallup official explained, "The proportion of non-affiliated voters is at its highest level since the current government took office." Notably, the swing voters' preferences drew attention. Gallup explained, "Among swing voters, support for the People Power Party and the Democratic Party was 27% each, while 43% of voters did not support any particular party."

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

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