[Polpol News] President Lee's Approval Rating at 57%... Split Opinions on Increasing Supreme Court Justices

Gallup Poll Results
43% Oppose, 38% Support Increasing Supreme Court Justices
Democratic Party at 41%, People Power Party at 26% Approval

President Lee Jaemyung's job approval rating has shown a slight improvement. Regarding the proposal by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea to increase the number of Supreme Court justices, public opinion was divided within the margin of error.

According to a public opinion poll released by Gallup on the 31st (conducted from the 28th to the 30th among 1,002 men and women aged 18 and older nationwide, using wireless telephone interviewer surveys, with a sampling error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level and a response rate of 12.6%), the positive evaluation of President Lee's job performance stood at 57%, up 1 percentage point from last week. The negative evaluation remained unchanged from last week at 33%.

Gallup explained, "Support for President Lee is high among those in their 40s (72%) and 50s (74%), while positive and negative opinions are relatively less polarized in other age groups."

Among respondents who gave a positive evaluation of his job performance (570 people), the main reasons cited were "diplomacy" (23%) and "economy and people's livelihood" (18%). Among those who gave a negative evaluation (330 people), the most common reasons were "diplomacy" (12%), "real estate policy and loan regulations" (12%), and "issues of morality or lack of qualifications" (10%).

President Lee Jae-myung is delivering the keynote speech at the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Chief Executive Officer Summit (APEC CEO SUMMIT) held at the Hwarang Hall of Gyeongju Arts Center in Gyeongbuk on the morning of the 29th. 2025.10.29 Photo by Kang Jinhyung

Gallup noted, "The customs negotiations were concluded in the latter part of this survey period, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) event has not yet ended, so it will take more time to gauge their impact."

The approval rating for the Democratic Party of Korea fell by 2 percentage points from last week to 41%. The approval rating for the People Power Party rose by 1 percentage point to 26%. Both the National Innovation Party and the Reform Party recorded 3% each.

This survey also addressed the issue of increasing the number of Supreme Court justices. Regarding the proposal to increase the number of justices from the current 14 to 26, 43% of respondents opposed the change and favored maintaining the status quo. Those in favor of the increase accounted for 38%. The difference between the two opinions is within the margin of error. Support for maintaining the current number was strong among conservatives (71%) and those aged 60 and older (over 50%), while support for increasing the number was higher among progressives (65%) and those in their 40s and 50s (over 50%).

Respondents who favored maintaining the current number of justices cited reasons such as "unnecessary; current number is sufficient" (25%) and "concerns about undermining neutrality and fairness if increased" (16%). Those who supported the increase pointed to "excessive workload, hasty trials, and resolving trial delays" (26%), "reflecting a wider range of opinions" (16%), and "expanding fairness and neutrality" (15%).

For more details on the public opinion poll, refer to the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.

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