President Lee’s approval rating hits 69%, highest since taking office… Democratic Party 46%, People Power Party 18%

A public opinion survey released on the 26th shows that President Lee Jae-myung’s approval rating for state affairs has reached 69%, the highest since he took office.

According to the National Barometer Survey (NBS), conducted by Embrain Public, Kstat Research, Korea Research, and Hankook Research, and released the same day (telephone interview survey, margin of error ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level), 69% of respondents said the president is “doing a good job,” up 2 percentage points from two weeks earlier. Negative evaluations stood at 22%, while 10% responded “don’t know” or gave no answer.

In terms of party support, the Democratic Party recorded 46%, the People Power Party 18%, and both the Rebuilding Korea Party and the New Reform Party at 2% each. Those undecided (no preference + don’t know/no response) accounted for 30%. The Democratic Party rose by 3 percentage points, while the People Power Party increased by 1 percentage point.

Regarding the June 3 local elections, 53% responded that “voters should support the ruling party for stability,” while 34% said “voters should support the opposition to provide checks and balance,” with 13% undecided or not responding. In Daegu, emerging as a key battleground due to internal nomination conflicts within the People Power Party and the near-confirmed candidacy of former Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum from the Democratic Party, support stood at 27% for the ruling party and 52% for the opposition, with 20% undecided. In all other regions except Daegu and North Gyeongsang, support for the ruling party was higher. Among centrist voters, support for the ruling party and opposition stood at 52% and 34%, respectively.

Additionally, public opinion on the government’s supplementary budget showed 53% in favor and 34% opposed. Expanding the vehicle odd-even restriction system to private vehicles due to worsening conditions in the Middle East received 59% support, compared to 36% opposition.

The survey was conducted from the 23rd to the 25th among 1,002 adults aged 18 and over. Further details can be found on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.