Seoul: President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating experienced a slight decline to 53.4 percent last week, as revealed by a recent survey. The drop comes amid mixed public reactions to the livestreaming of his policy briefings from various government ministries.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the survey conducted by Realmeter indicated that the positive assessment of President Lee's overall performance decreased by 0.9 percentage points compared to the previous week, settling at 53.4 percent. Concurrently, the negative evaluation of his performance rose by 0.7 percentage points, reaching 42.2 percent. The survey highlighted that while some respondents viewed the live broadcasts of Lee's policy briefings favorably, his public criticism of Lee Hak-jae, the head of Incheon International Airport appointed during former President Yoon Suk Yeol's administration, coupled with public concerns over issues such as Coupang's personal data breach and the declining Korean won, contributed to the decline in his approval rating.
The Realmeter survey, commissioned by a local news outlet, was conducted on 2,521 adults from Monday to Friday of the previous week, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points and a confidence level of 95 percent. Additionally, a separate survey by the same pollster, conducted on 1,007 individuals aged 18 and over on Thursday and Friday, showed a decrease in the approval rating for the ruling Democratic Party, which fell by 1.7 percentage points to 44.1 percent. Meanwhile, support for the opposition PPP increased by 2.6 percentage points to 37.2 percent. This poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, with a confidence rate of 95 percent.