President Lee Jae-myung's job approval rating rose for a second straight week to 40%, returning to the 40% range for the first time in seven weeks, a period that includes two weeks when no survey was conducted.
According to a Gallup Korea survey of 1,001 adults aged 18 and over conducted from Oct. 20 to 22 and released on the 23rd, 40% of respondents rated Lee's performance positively, up 1 percentage point from the previous week. Approval had hovered in the 30% range since falling to 38% in the second week of September. Disapproval stood at 50%, down 2 percentage points from a week earlier, while 10% withheld an opinion.
Disapproval outweighed approval in every age group except those in their 40s and 50s. Among respondents in their 40s, 49% approved and 46% disapproved. Among those in their 50s, approval reached 57%, 19 percentage points above the 38% who disapproved.
Diplomacy was the most frequently cited reason for approval at 21%, followed by the economy and livelihood issues at 14% and communication at 7%. Among those who disapproved, housing policy was the top reason at 18%, followed by the economy and livelihood issues at 16%, defense, security and North Korea policy at 10%, and general poor performance at 6%.
"Housing has remained the leading reason for disapproval since the fourth week of July," Gallup Korea said. "Compared with last week, references to the economy increased among reasons for both approval and disapproval."
In party support, the Democratic Party stood at 37% and the People Power Party at 28%, each up 1 percentage point from the previous week. Among moderates, support for the Democratic Party fell 1 percentage point to 37%, while the People Power Party rose 2 percentage points to 20%. The Rebuilding Korea Party drew 3%, the Reform Party 2% and the Progressive Party 1%, with 27% expressing no party preference.
Opinion was divided over the Democratic Party's push to impeach Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de. Opposition to impeachment stood at 39%, 5 percentage points higher than the 34% who supported it, while 28% withheld an opinion. Support was relatively high among Democratic Party backers at 61%, self-identified progressives at 66% and respondents in their 40s and 50s at 47%. Opposition prevailed among People Power Party supporters at 71%, conservatives at 61% and those aged 60 and over at 51%.
Respondents were also pessimistic about the economy over the next year. Those expecting conditions to worsen accounted for 40%, 13 percentage points more than the 27% who expected improvement. The findings suggest public anxiety about the economy persists even as the president's approval rating edged higher.
The survey was conducted through computer-assisted telephone interviews using randomly selected virtual mobile numbers provided by the country's three wireless carriers. The response rate was 10.6%, and the margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. Further details are available on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.