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More than half of Koreans say Lee-Trump summit went well, but ideological split clear

Published: 27 Aug. 2025, 12:49

U.S. President Donald Trump, right, meets with President Lee Jae Myung in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Aug. 25. [AP/YONHAP]

More than half of Koreans view Monday's summit between President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump positively, a new poll showed Tuesday.

In a nationwide survey of 507 adults conducted by Realmeter on behalf of Energy Economy News, 53.1 percent of respondents said the summit was positive. Of those, 37.6 percent said it was “very successful” while 15.6 percent said it “went relatively well.”

In contrast, 41.5 percent gave a negative response, with 27.9 percent saying it was “very unsuccessful” and 13.6 percent saying it “went relatively poorly.” Another 5.4 percent said they were unsure.

By region, positive views outnumbered negative ones in all areas except Seoul and Jeju. In Seoul, 45.9 percent responded positively, while 46.6 percent viewed the summit negatively. In Jeju, negative responses reached 77.8 percent, with only 22.2 percent viewing the meeting favorably.

By age, respondents in their 40s and 50s were the most supportive, with 67.5 percent of those in their 40s and 67.8 percent of those in their 50s giving positive assessments.

Among those aged 18 to 29, 58.8 percent responded negatively and 39.1 percent positively — the highest disapproval rate among all age groups.

By political orientation, 87.8 percent of self-identified progressives supported the summit. Among conservatives, 66.4 percent responded negatively, while only 25.5 percent said the summit was positive. Among moderates, 54.7 percent responded positively and 41.4 percent negatively.

Overall, 60.7 percent of respondents said the summit achieved tangible results.

When asked about specific achievements, respondents cited expanded cooperation in sectors like shipbuilding and manufacturing at 18 percent, followed by strengthened trust between the two leaders at 14 percent, progress on North Korea-U.S. dialogue and Korean Peninsula peace at 13.9 percent and a reinforced trilateral alliance among Korea, the United States and Japan at 10.5 percent. But 34.6 percent said the summit yielded no results.

The poll used random digit dialing for mobile phone users nationwide and was conducted via an automated response system. The response rate was 5.3 percent. The margin of error was plus or minus 4.4 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.

Full details are available on the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission's website.

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.
BY BAE JAE-SUNG [[email protected]]