Yoon Approval Rating in Low 30% for 4 Weeks... Will the 'Press Conference' Be a Breakthrough?

President Yoon Suk-yeol personally introduced Hong Cheol-ho, the new Senior Secretary for Political Affairs of the Presidential Office, at the Yongsan Presidential Office building in Seoul on the 22nd of last month. [Image source=Yonhap News]

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A public opinion poll released on the 6th showed that President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating has remained in the low 30% range for four consecutive weeks. Attention is focused on whether his approval rating will enter an upward trend around his second anniversary press conference scheduled for the 9th.

According to a survey conducted by Realmeter, a professional polling agency, commissioned by Energy Economy Newspaper, 2,004 voters aged 18 and over nationwide were asked to evaluate President Yoon's performance in office over four days from the 29th of last month to the 3rd of this month. The positive evaluation was recorded at 30.3%, while the negative evaluation was 65.5%. Those who responded "don't know" accounted for 4.3%.

Compared to a week ago, the positive evaluation rose by 0.1 percentage points, and the negative evaluation fell by 1.4 percentage points. The gap between positive and negative evaluations was 35.2 percentage points, which is outside the margin of error.

President Yoon's positive approval rating has remained in the low 30% range (32.6% → 32.3% → 30.2% → 30.3%) for the past four weeks since recording 37.3% in the first week of last month. This week's slight rebound prevented a drop into the 20% range, but the gap with negative evaluations remains large.

By region, positive evaluations increased in Daejeon, Sejong, and Chungcheong (up 6.9 percentage points) and Gwangju and Jeolla (up 1.4 percentage points), while they declined in Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam (down 3.1 percentage points), Seoul (down 3.0 percentage points), and Daegu and Gyeongbuk (down 1.5 percentage points).

President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating for the first week of May (Data provided by Realmeter)

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By age group, positive evaluations rose among those in their 20s (up 2.8 percentage points) and 30s (up 1.9 percentage points), but fell among those in their 40s (down 2.4 percentage points) and 50s (down 1.0 percentage point).

The presidential performance evaluation survey was conducted via automated response with 97% mobile and 3% landline calls, and the response rate was 2.7%.

President Yoon is scheduled to hold a press conference at the Yongsan Presidential Office on the 9th to mark his second anniversary in office (the 10th). This will be his first press conference in one year and nine months since the 100-day press conference in August 2022.

The presidential office plans to use this press conference to eliminate the long-standing image of "lack of communication" and emphasize communication and cooperation.

President Yoon is also expected to express specific positions on sensitive current issues such as the allegations regarding First Lady Kim Keon-hee's luxury handbag acquisition and his veto of the "Special Prosecutor Appointment Act for the Investigation of Obstruction and Concealment of the Truth Regarding the Death of a Marine in the Line of Duty" (the Chae Sang-byeong Special Prosecutor Act).

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