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Lee's approval rating falls to 59%: Poll

Published: 14 Nov. 2025, 12:18

President Lee Jae Myung on Nov. 7 [NEWS1]

President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating dipped back below 60 percent, a poll showed Friday, following controversy over the prosecution's decision not to appeal a high-profile development corruption case linked to him.

In a Gallup Korea survey of 1,003 adults conducted Tuesday through Thursday, 59 percent gave a positive evaluation of Lee's performance, down 4 percentage points from the previous week.

The negative assessment of Lee rose 3 percentage points to 32 percent.

Lee's approval rating had risen for four consecutive weeks to 63 percent last week, driven by positive evaluations of his diplomacy and the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit held in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang, before registering a fall this week.

Among those who gave a positive assessment, 30 percent cited diplomacy, while 14 percent indicated the economy, followed by 7 percent who cited overall job performance and 5 percent who pointed to the outcome of the recent APEC gathering.

Gallup said negative sentiment was fueled by the prosecution's failure to appeal the corruption case amid lingering controversy over the ruling Democratic Party's (DP) move to suspend criminal trials for Lee.

The development corruption case centers on allegations that a small number of unqualified asset management companies, including Hwacheon Daeyu, were allowed to reap astronomical investment profits from a real estate development project in Seongnam's Daejang-dong district in 2015, when Lee was the city's mayor.

Opposition lawmakers and critics suspect the prosecution's decision not to appeal by last Friday's deadline was influenced by government interference.

The DP's approval rating rose 2 percentage points to 42 percent, while support for the main opposition People Power Party slipped 2 percentage points to 24 percent.

The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.

Yonhap