Lee's approval rating rebounds to 40%; public opposes Chief Justice impeachment

President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating climbed back above 40 percent for the first time in seven weeks, signaling that a prolonged slide may be stabilizing. The Democratic Party of Korea also extended its lead over the People Power Party to 9 percentage points.

Public opposition outweighed support, however, for the ruling bloc's push to impeach Chief Justice Jo Hee-dae of the Supreme Court. While Democratic Party supporters backed the impeachment, centrist voters were evenly split — a dynamic that could complicate the ruling camp's efforts to move forward.

A Gallup Korea survey of 1,001 adults aged 18 and older nationwide, conducted Monday through Wednesday, found that 40 percent gave President Lee a positive job performance rating, while 50 percent gave a negative assessment. Ten percent withheld judgment.

The last time Lee's approval rating reached 40 percent was seven weeks ago. A decline that had persisted through the Chuseok holiday period came to a halt in October, pulling the figure back from a post-inauguration low of 37 percent. His negative rating, however, remained at 50 percent — 10 percentage points above the positive figure.

Negative assessments were particularly pronounced among centrists and independents. Among centrist respondents, 40 percent rated Lee's performance positively and 47 percent negatively. Among those with no party affiliation, only 21 percent gave a positive rating while 54 percent gave a negative one. Men also showed a wide gap, with 36 percent positive and 57 percent negative.

Real estate policy was the most frequently cited reason for a negative assessment, at 18 percent, followed by the economy and livelihoods at 16 percent and national defense, security and North Korea policy at 10 percent. Real estate policy has topped the list of reasons for negative ratings every week since the fourth week of July. Among those with a positive view, diplomacy ranked first at 21 percent, followed by the economy and livelihoods at 14 percent and communication at 7 percent.

In party support, the Democratic Party stood at 37 percent against 28 percent for the PPP — a 9-point gap. This marks the fifth time since the current administration took office that the gap between the two major parties has fallen within 10 percentage points. The margin has remained in single digits for three consecutive weeks since the second week of October.

The Rebuilding Korea Party polled at 3 percent and the Reform Party at 2 percent, while 27 percent of respondents identified with no party.

On the question of impeaching Chief Justice Jo, however, opposition ran higher than support. Thirty-four percent said they supported the impeachment, while 39 percent were opposed. Twenty-eight percent withheld an opinion.

Among centrist voters, support and opposition were tied at 34 percent each. Among independents and respondents in their 20s, roughly half declined to take a position.

Notably, despite the Democratic Party leading the PPP by 17 percentage points among centrists in party support, it failed to secure clear centrist backing for the impeachment of Chief Justice Jo. Support for the impeachment push among the party's core base has not spread to the political center.

The Democratic Party and the Rebuilding Korea Party have been in ongoing discussions over the impeachment of Chief Justice Jo. The Rebuilding Korea Party has pressed the Democratic Party to act, releasing a draft impeachment motion and proposing the formation of a joint task force. Within the Democratic Party, disagreements persist over both the necessity of impeachment and the timing of any move.

Meanwhile, pessimism also dominated the economic outlook. Only 27 percent of respondents said they expected the domestic economy to improve over the next year — the lowest reading since the current administration took office — while 40 percent expected conditions to worsen. Even as the slide in Lee's approval rating has steadied, public confidence in the economy remains weak.

The survey was conducted via telephone interviews using randomly selected virtual numbers provided by the three major mobile carriers. The response rate was 10.6 percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level. Further details are available on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.