Democratic Party rattled by shrinking support as approval ratings slide and post-insurrection strategy loses steam
Falling approval ratings, real estate backlash and internal strains are pushing Korea's ruling party to rethink its strategy beyond the post-insurrection narrative.
Democratic Party leader Jung Chung-rae looks on during a party meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul on March 9.NEWS1
A growing voice within Korea's ruling camp is calling on the Democratic Party (DP) to think beyond the insurrection narrative, as approval ratings for both President Lee Jae Myung and the party slide following the June 3 local elections.
A nationwide survey released Friday by the National Barometer Survey, conducted by mobile phone interview from Monday to Wednesday, put President Lee's approval rating at 57 percent, which is a drop of 9 percentage points over three weeks. In policy, his real estate initiatives received the lowest marks, with positive assessments plummeting 17 percentage points to 40 percent.
The decline was even steeper in a separate Korea Society Opinion Institute poll, conducted from Monday to Tuesday by automated mobile survey, which President Lee himself shared on X, writing that he would "humbly accept the people's stern verdict." That survey put his approval at 50.4 percent, down 9.4 percentage points from its previous poll. Party support narrowed to its closest margin in a year, with the DP at 38.6 percent and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) at 38.1 percent. Another survey, by local polling company Jowon C&I, showed the PPP actually pulling ahead at 41.6 percent versus the DP's 40.4 percent, during polling between Saturday and Monday.
Lawmakers from the greater Seoul area are already on edge. The party lost the Seoul mayor spot in the June 3 local elections, and the 2028 general election — which will be held in the fourth year of Lee's presidency — is widely forecast to be a far more difficult fight.
"The Seoul mayoral result and [former PPP leader] Han Dong-hoon's entry into the National Assembly are signals that the opposition has already begun moving into the post-Yoon Suk Yeol phase," said one DP lawmaker with a Seoul constituency. "It has become impossible to capture swing voters in the capital region by running politics solely against former President Yoon and PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok."
The issue drawing the most anxiety among Gyeonggi, Seoul and Incheon lawmakers is real estate sentiment. The party struggled in the June 3 vote across the affluent southern Seoul districts, districts closely bordering the Han River, and southern Gyeonggi cities including Seongnam, Yongin, Gwacheon and Uiwang — all areas where surging home prices and property tax concerns collided.
President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a press briefing held at the European Union headquarters in Brussels on June 10.NEWS1
Tensions rose further after President Lee said at a press conference on Monday that Korea's property holding taxes are "generally on the low side," signaling openness to raising them.
"Wasn't it the president's previous position that he would not use taxes to control housing prices?" said one DP lawmaker from the capital region. "Legislation to raise property holding taxes will not be easy — the general election is a matter of political survival for members."
A special counsel probe into the alleged improper withdrawal of criminal charges is another flashpoint. Within the party, opinions are split between those who say the abuse of prosecutorial power must be investigated and those who argue the issue contributed to the local election defeat and needs to be reconsidered. "It is impossible for the ruling camp to fight on two fronts simultaneously — property tax increases and the special counsel — at the same time," said political consultant Kong Hee-joon. "In the end, one of the two will likely have to be dropped."
A brewing factional clash between camps loyal to President Lee and party leader Jung Chung-rae is also being cited as a destabilizing factor, particularly as the party's August convention is coming up. Jung told a caucus meeting Thursday to "rally tightly together around President Lee Jae Myung," but behind closed doors, members reportedly raised questions about responsibility for the local election defeat and called for the leadership to step down.
"If Oh Se-hoon, Han Dong-hoon and Lee Jun-seok were to form an alliance heading into the next general election, that would be a catastrophic scenario for us," said one two-term DP lawmaker from Seoul.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
