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Lee's approval rating rises to 56.5% due to government's efforts to stabilize housing market: Poll

Published: 16 Feb. 2026, 15:39

President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a meeting with senior aids at the Blue House in Seoul on Feb. 12. [YONHAP]

President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating rose to 56.5 percent last week, a survey showed on Monday, driven by the government's efforts to stabilize the property market.

The rating was up 0.7 percentage points from the previous week. Negative assessment fell 0.2 percentage points to 38.9 percent, according to the survey by Realmeter and commissioned by a local business news outlet.

Realmeter attributed the increase to Lee's ongoing push to curb home prices by ending an exemption from the heavy capital gains tax for owners of multiple homes, as well as the stock market's rise.

The survey was conducted on 1,009 adults from Feb. 9 to 13 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points, with a confidence level of 95 percent.

Earlier in the day, Lee continued his criticism of multiple-home ownership for investment purposes on the social media platform X.

“It is clear that there are more negative effects than positive ones [for owning multiple homes],” he wrote.

“That is why the government needs to remove unfair preferential treatment in terms of taxes, finances and regulations,” he continued. “Regarding social problems, we need to make [multiple-home owners] take responsibility [...] to a certain degree, and that is in line with common sense.”

The remarks were the latest in a recent series of social media posts by Lee on his views on the heated property market. He has repeatedly pledged to stabilize the housing market, arguing that rising home prices are placing heavy burdens on young people and discouraging marriage and childbirth.

Yonhap