President Lee Jae Myung's job approval rating fell 0.5 percentage points from the previous week to 48.4 percent, while the gap between the Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party narrowed to 3.1 percentage points — within the margin of error — according to a poll released Monday.
Realmeter conducted the survey on behalf of Energy Economy Newspaper, polling 2,007 registered voters aged 18 and older nationwide from July 13 to 16. Lee's approval edged down 0.5 percentage points from the previous poll.
His disapproval rating rose 0.3 percentage points to 48.0 percent, leaving the gap between approval and disapproval at just 0.4 percentage points — within the margin of error. Some 3.6 percent of respondents said they were unsure.
The poll also detected erosion among Lee's core base. Approval among self-identified progressives dropped 5.4 percentage points from the prior week, while support among voters in their 40s — a key Democratic Party constituency — fell 3.8 percentage points, from 59.3 percent to 55.5 percent. By occupation, the steepest declines came among the self-employed (down 4.9 percentage points) and office workers, managers and professionals (down 4.2 percentage points).
Realmeter said approval had held in the low 50s in the early and middle parts of the survey week, but a confluence of negative developments in the latter half — including an interest rate hike, a sharp stock market decline, intraparty friction over supplementary investigative powers, and writer Yoo Si-min's remarks calling the administration's failure "inevitable" — drove away core supporters in their 40s and among progressives, pulling the overall approval figure slightly lower.
In party support, the Democratic Party stood at 43.1 percent and the People Power Party at 40.0 percent. The Democratic Party fell 1.7 percentage points from the previous week, while the PPP gained 1.9 percentage points.
The gap between the two parties narrowed to 3.1 percentage points, within the margin of error. The Rebuilding Korea Party and the Reform Party followed at 3.1 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively, with the Progressive Party at 1.3 percent and other parties at 1.2 percent. Those with no party affiliation accounted for 8.5 percent.
Realmeter attributed the Democratic Party's decline to factional tensions ahead of its party convention and internal disagreements over abolishing supplementary investigative powers. The PPP's gains were linked to its push for three crime-victim protection bills and its stance in favor of retaining supplementary investigative powers, following the Jang Yun-gi case.
The presidential job approval survey was conducted entirely via automated response on mobile phones. The response rate was 4.0 percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.
The party support survey was conducted from July 15 to 16 among 1,005 registered voters aged 18 and older nationwide. The response rate was 4.1 percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level. Full methodology is available on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.
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