Realmeter "President Yoon's Approval Rating in Mid-30% Range... Impact of Hong Beom-do Controversy"

Approval Rating Down 2.2%P to 35.4%
Declines Notable in Chungcheong Region, Men, and 20s

President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating for his administration has declined, falling to the mid-30% range. After two consecutive weeks of rising approval ratings, President Yoon's support showed a downward trend this time.

According to a regular public opinion poll released on the 31st by the polling agency Realmeter (conducted via ARS automated response method over five days from the 28th of last month to the 1st of this month, targeting 2,505 adults aged 18 and over nationwide, commissioned by Media Tribune), President Yoon's approval rating dropped by 2.2 percentage points to 35.4%. Negative evaluations also rose by 1.7% to reach 61.1%.

Approval ratings increased in Incheon·Gyeonggi (up 2.0 percentage points, 32.6%→34.6%) and among people in their 40s (up 1.4 percentage points, 22.6%→24.0%), but significant declines were seen in Gwangju·Jeolla (down 6.4 percentage points, 24.2%→17.8%), Daejeon·Sejong·Chungcheong (down 6.1 percentage points, 39.2%→33.1%), Seoul (down 3.3 percentage points, 38.2%→34.9%), males (down 3.2 percentage points, 37.7%→34.5%), people in their 20s (down 9.8 percentage points, 34.8%→25.0%), and centrists (down 4.3 percentage points, 35.9%→31.6%).

Looking at the trend, the approval rating started at 33.4% at the beginning of the week (on the 29th of last month) and recovered to 36.4% by the end of the week (on the 1st).

Senior expert Bae Cheol-ho of Realmeter explained, "This week's presidential approval rating appears to have been more influenced by historical and ideological debates such as the relocation of General Hong Beom-do's statue than the ongoing controversy over Fukushima contaminated water." He added, "The rebound in President Yoon's approval rating in the latter part of the week is mainly attributed to the rejection of the expulsion motion against independent lawmaker Kim Nam-guk by the National Assembly Ethics Committee." Senior expert Bae also noted, "The start of a hunger strike by Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, later in the week did not significantly damage the president's evaluation."

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

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