As Lee's approval varies by polling agency, voters in 60s swing with achievements
Published: 16 Nov. 2025, 15:30
Updated: 16 Nov. 2025, 16:35
![President Lee Jae Myung smiles after announcing the outcome of the Korea-U.S. fact sheet agreement at the presidential office in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Nov. 14. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/16/0b1b8d79-4204-4c92-be32-eef45bd2feec.jpg)
President Lee Jae Myung smiles after announcing the outcome of the Korea-U.S. fact sheet agreement at the presidential office in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Nov. 14. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
Polling agencies are showing mixed results on President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating, but one thing is clear: Voters in their 60s are the most temperamental.
In a survey conducted between Nov. 10 and Wednesday, Lee’s approval rating rose from 56 percent to 61 percent, a five percentage point increase from two weeks earlier, in the National Barometer Survey (NBS), conducted by four polling companies — Embrain Public, Kstat Research, Korea Research International and Hankook Research.
It was the first time Lee’s approval climbed into the 60 percent range in an NBS poll since the first week of September, immediately after his first Korea-U.S. summit.
But in a Gallup Korea survey conducted from Tuesday to Thursday, Lee’s approval dropped to 59 percent, down four percentage points from the previous week.
Negative evaluations followed a similar pattern.
“Ethical concerns and avoidance of his own trial remained the most frequently cited reasons for disapproval for the second consecutive week, and mentions of the Daejang-dong case started appearing,” said Gallup Korea. “This seems to reflect lingering backlash over the Democratic Party’s [DP] push for the so-called trial suspension bill and controversy surrounding the prosecution’s decision not to appeal a case involving the president."
![President Lee Jae Myung, center, speaks at a press conference announcing the conclusion of a joint fact sheet with the United States at the Yongsan presidential office in central Seoul on Nov. 14, flanked by National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac, right, and Kim Yong-beom, presidential chief of staff for policy. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/16/6d9418f9-853b-4613-8653-48c673acf0f2.jpg)
President Lee Jae Myung, center, speaks at a press conference announcing the conclusion of a joint fact sheet with the United States at the Yongsan presidential office in central Seoul on Nov. 14, flanked by National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac, right, and Kim Yong-beom, presidential chief of staff for policy. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
The Daejang-dong scandal involves allegations of preferential treatment and illicit profit-sharing in a massive development project in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, during Lee's time as mayor. Key figures in the project, including Yoo Dong-gyu, the former acting president of the Seongnam Development Corporation, were accused of manipulating the project’s structure to divert excessive profits to private investors with political connections.
Earlier this month, the DP attempted to pass legislation to formally suspend trials involving a sitting president, a proposal dubbed the trial suspension bill. However, the presidential office halted the idea within a day.
With poll results diverging, the most noticeable shifts were among voters in their 60s. In Gallup Korea’s polling over the past two weeks, approval in this age group fluctuated sharply — from 43 percent to 62 percent to 51 percent — compared with nationwide figures of 57 percent, 63 percent and 59 percent.
![President Lee Jae Myung, right, listens to U.S. President Donald Trump during a dinner at a hotel in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang, on Oct. 29, following their bilateral summit. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/16/30daaed8-4688-47cd-89d2-d882bc3dd48e.jpg)
President Lee Jae Myung, right, listens to U.S. President Donald Trump during a dinner at a hotel in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang, on Oct. 29, following their bilateral summit. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
Other age groups showed different patterns. Support among the relatively conservative 18-to-29 cohort remained low, at 45 percent, 49 percent and 51 percent. Backing among the relatively liberal 40-something bracket recorded 72 percent, 77 percent and 74 percent, and those in their 50s registered 74 percent, 72 percent and 75 percent approval.
In the NBS poll, where Lee’s overall approval rose by five percentage points, support among voters in their 60s increased significantly from 48 percent to 58 percent.
Some analysts say voters in their 60s — once broadly viewed as a conservative bloc — now serve as a stabilizing pillar of support for Lee when he delivers concrete results.
“Whenever President Lee touches on centrist or conservative issues like nuclear-propelled submarines or securing Nvidia GPUs, we see a sharp jump in positive sentiment among people in their 60s,” said Kim Bong-shin, vice president of polling agency Metavoice. “The assumption that people in their 60s and 70s uniformly support the [conservative] People Power Party no longer holds.”
![President Lee Jae Myung, right, watches U.S. President Donald Trump sign a guest book at the Gyeongju National Museum in North Gyeongsang ahead of their bilateral summit on Oct. 29. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/16/63c09d7e-f525-449e-b6a2-e23a363ea320.jpg)
President Lee Jae Myung, right, watches U.S. President Donald Trump sign a guest book at the Gyeongju National Museum in North Gyeongsang ahead of their bilateral summit on Oct. 29. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]
Others point to demographic change, noting the rise in the share of people in their 60s who entered university in the 1980s, many of whom experienced military dictatorship during their student years. After the Dec. 3 declaration of martial law, this group moved strongly toward the DP, reshaping the political tendencies of the age bracket, some experts argue.
“You can see this as the generational effect of those who attended university in the 1980s outweighing the usual life-cycle effect in which people grow more conservative with age,” said Lee Jun-han, a political science professor at Incheon National University. “Ultimately, this age group is driven by economic concerns, so future trends in the stock market and real estate prices will determine where approval ratings go from here.”
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 OH HYUN-SEOK [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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