Presidential Office Mentions 'Doubt' Over Plummeting Approval Ratings... "Humble Before Public Sentiment"

The Presidential Office stated on the 14th that it would "humbly accept" the results of a public opinion poll showing President Yoon Seok-yeol's approval rating falling to the 20% range.

A Presidential Office official met with reporters at the Yongsan Presidential Office that afternoon and responded to questions about the declining approval rating by saying, "We are listening to public sentiment."

However, the official added, "In some cases, we refer to public opinion polls, and in other cases, we do not," explaining, "When polls conducted on the same day differ beyond the margin of error, it raises serious doubts about which poll to trust." The official further elaborated, "There are many cases where we question the sampling method, questionnaire composition, and scientific validity, so sometimes we refer to the polls, and sometimes we do not."

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On the same day, the Presidential Office also expressed its position regarding the fact that 10 out of 15 bereaved families of forced labor victims during the Japanese colonial period have accepted the government's 'third-party compensation' solution and agreed to receive compensation. A Presidential Office official said, "It must have been a difficult decision, but we express our gratitude for trusting the government's solution," and added, "We appreciate that this has opened the future of Korea-Japan relations."

Meanwhile, on the same day, the public opinion research firm Gallup Korea conducted a survey from the 11th to the 13th targeting 1,002 people nationwide aged 18 and older (with a sampling error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level). When asked about President Yoon's performance in office, 27% responded positively, and 65% responded negatively. The positive rating dropped by 4 percentage points compared to the previous week’s survey, falling into the 20% range for the first time in about five months since the third week of November (29%). The negative rating increased by 4 percentage points.

The president’s positive job approval rating first fell below 30% at the end of July last year, three months after his inauguration, hitting a low of 24% in early August and late September. It then remained in the 20% range for a while before recovering and maintaining the 30% range until last week. These figures are similar to the results of a public opinion poll conducted in the third week of October 2016, when suspicions of former President Park Geun-hye’s interference in state affairs intensified. At that time, Park’s approval rating was 25% positive and 64% negative.

This survey was conducted by randomly selecting samples from a wireless phone RDD sample frame and interviewing respondents by telephone. The response rate was 8.2%. Detailed information can be found on the Gallup Korea website or the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.

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