[Polpol News] 59% Support Simultaneous Constitutional Referendum and Local Elections... President Lee's Approval Rating Slightly Declines

NBS Public Opinion Survey
58% Agree on Need for Constitutional Amendment... Twice the 29% Who Say "Not Necessary"
54% Say "Ruling Party Should Be Empowered" in Local Elections

According to a recent survey, 6 out of 10 South Koreans support holding the June 3 local elections and the constitutional amendment referendum simultaneously. President Lee Jae-myung's job approval rating, which had been on a steady upward trend, saw a slight decline.

On May 7, Embrain Public, KSTAT Research, Korea Research, and Hankook Research released the results of the regular National Barometer Survey (NBS), conducted by mobile phone interviews with 1,001 men and women aged 18 and over nationwide from May 4 to 6. The margin of error was ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, and the response rate was 19.8%. According to the survey, 59% of respondents said they "support" holding the constitutional amendment referendum on June 3, together with the local elections. Meanwhile, 27% said they "oppose" the idea, and 14% responded "don't know" or gave no answer.

Woo Won-shik, Speaker of the National Assembly, holds the signature petition for the proposal of the amendment to the Constitution of the Republic of Korea and the National Assembly declaration for bipartisan constitutional amendment during a press conference for the bipartisan promotion of constitutional amendment held at the National Assembly on March 31. From the left, Yoon Jong-oh, Floor Leader of the Progressive Party; Han Byung-do, Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea; Speaker Woo; Seo Wang-jin, Floor Leader of the Party for National Innovation; Han Chang-min, Representative of the Social Democratic Party. 2026.3.31 Photo by Kim Hyun-min

Regarding the need for constitutional amendment, 58% of respondents said it is necessary, which is about twice as high as the 29% who said it is unnecessary. Public support for constitutional amendment was high among those in their 30s through 60s, while opinions among those in their 20s and those in their 70s were more evenly divided.

As for President Lee's administration, the positive evaluation was 67%, which is a 2 percentage point decrease compared to the survey conducted two weeks prior. The negative evaluation rose by 2 percentage points to 23%. The record-high presidential approval rating of 69%, which had continued for three consecutive surveys since the fourth week of March, was broken in this latest survey.

Regarding party support, the Democratic Party of Korea registered a support rate of 46%, down 2 percentage points from two weeks ago, while the People Power Party recorded 18%, up 3 percentage points. The Party for National Innovation received 3%, the Reform Party 2%, and the Progressive Party 1%.

When asked about the nature of the local elections, 54% said, "We should support the ruling party for stability." This is a 4 percentage point decrease compared to the previous survey (the fourth week of April). Meanwhile, 32% said, "We should support the opposition party for checks and balances," which is a 2 percentage point increase from the prior survey.

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

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