Key Summary
- A National Barometer Survey (NBS) released on the 12th placed President Lee Jae-myung’s job approval at 44%, down 2 percentage points from two weeks earlier.
- Negative views of his administration stood at 47%, while 9% said they did not know or did not respond.
- Party support was measured at 35% for the Democratic Party and 25% for the People Power Party.
- The survey found the Democratic Party was seen as better positioned in several policy areas, including welfare, public health, foreign affairs and trade, inter-Korean relations and security, employment, and reducing polarization.
- The People Power Party scored higher than the Democratic Party on real estate policy.
Main Story
A new nationwide survey has shown a decline in support for President Lee Jae-myung’s administration. The National Barometer Survey, conducted by Embrain Public, Kstat Research, Korea Research, and Hankook Research from September 9 to 11 and published on the 12th, found that 44% of respondents said the president was handling state affairs well. That figure was 2 percentage points lower than in the previous poll conducted two weeks earlier.
At the same time, 47% of respondents said he was doing poorly, up from 44% in the earlier survey. Another 9% gave no answer or said they did not know. On trust in the government, the poll showed an even split: 47% said they trust the president’s administration, while 47% said they do not.
In the party preference question, the Democratic Party led with 35%, followed by the People Power Party at 25%. The Rebuilding Korea Party registered 4%, while the Reform Party and the Progressive Party each recorded 1%. Compared with the previous NBS survey, Democratic Party support slipped by 1 point, while the People Power Party was unchanged.
The survey also asked which party respondents believed would handle specific policy areas best. The Democratic Party led in welfare policy, public health policy, foreign affairs and trade, inter-Korean relations and security, employment policy, and efforts to reduce polarization. The People Power Party, however, was ahead on real estate policy, with 34% to the Democratic Party’s 29%.
The gap on real estate was especially wide among respondents in their 30s, where the People Power Party scored 48% and the Democratic Party 14%.
Background
The article says the survey was a national index poll conducted by four research firms and released on the 12th. It also notes that the sampling error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. For further details, the article refers readers to the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.
Items Requiring Further Verification
- The poll results are attributed to the NBS survey conducted by four firms; the underlying questionnaire, weighting method, and detailed sample composition are not included in the supplied text.
- The article reports topic-by-topic party advantages, but the precise survey wording for each policy area is not provided.
- The real estate finding for respondents in their 30s is presented as a survey result; no raw counts or margin of error for that subgroup are given.