Home > National > Politics

Lee's approval rating falls for 2nd straight week

Published: 22 Sep. 2025, 12:08 Updated: 22 Sep. 2025, 12:27

President Lee Jae Myung greets the audience during a Q&A session following the screening of an official selection at the Busan International Film Festival at the Busan Cinema Center in Haeundae District, Busan, on Sept. 20. [YONHAP]

President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating fell for a second consecutive week, a survey showed Monday, amid controversy over a special counsel team's raid on the People Power Party (PPP) headquarters.

According to the survey by Realmeter and commissioned by a local news outlet, 53 percent gave a positive assessment of Lee's job performance, down 1.5 percentage points from the previous week, while the negative assessment rose 2.5 percentage points to 43.6 percent.

Realmeter cited political issues, such as disputes over judicial independence and the special counsel team's raid on the PPP headquarters, as reasons that fueled negative public sentiment.

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) has recently intensified its push to oust Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de, accusing him of shielding figures implicated in former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law imposition by delaying their trials.

The PPP has raised concerns that the DP's move undermines the constitutional principle of separation of powers and threatens judicial independence.

It also denounced last week's raid by the special counsel, which is investigating allegations that Unification Church members joined the PPP en masse ahead of the party's leadership race in 2023 to influence the results in favor of Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, who was once seen as a key confidant of Yoon.

The survey was conducted on 2,526 adults from Monday to Friday last week and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points, with a confidence rate of 95 percent.

In a separate survey conducted by the same pollster on 1,007 individuals aged 18 and over Thursday and Friday, the approval rating for the DP fell 0.1 percentage point to 44.2 percent.

Support for the PPP rose 2.2 percentage points to 38.6 percent.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, with a confidence rate of 95 percent.

Yonhap