President Lee’s approval rating dips slightly, but it is hard to see it as a loss of support from his core base
Lee Jae-myung’s approval rating has fallen, but it is too early to view it as a departure of his core supporters Take a quick look at poll trends and expert analysis
Recent opinion polls by Realmeter and Korea Gallup showed a slight decline in approval ratings for President Lee Jaemyung's performance in state affairs. However, there was no consistent downward trend among supporters of the Democratic Party, progressive voters, people in their 40s and 50s, or the Honam region, leading analysts to say it is difficult to conclude that core supporters are abandoning him.
In the Realmeter poll, the approval rating fell 0.5 percentage points from the previous week to 48.4%, and in the Korea Gallup poll, it dropped 1 percentage point to 52%. Some in the ruling camp raised the possibility of support base erosion amid the impact of economic conditions and internal party conflict, but experts said it is unnecessary to overinterpret the current level of fluctuation.
Experts cited economic headwinds, controversies within the ruling camp, and the possibility that some hardline supporters may be drifting away as reasons for the decline in approval ratings, while explaining that the overall trend is more strongly influenced by changes among centrist voters. Even within the Democratic Party, there were voices cautioning against interpreting fluctuations within the margin of error as evidence of core supporter defections.