A recent poll indicates President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating has dropped to 57.1 percent, marking the first decline in six weeks. The fall is partly attributed to social debates over the fairness of government plans to merge major cities and provinces, as well as lowering the criminal punishment age. The ruling party's support also dipped, while the opposition saw a slight rise.
SEOUL, March 2 (Yonhap) -- A survey by Realmeter, commissioned by a local business news outlet, shows President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating at 57.1 percent, down 1.1 percentage points from the previous week. This marks the first drop in six weeks, despite favorable financial and economic indicators. Disapproval rose 1 percentage point to 38.2 percent.
The pollster links the decline to ongoing social discussions about the equity of the government's efforts to merge major cities and provinces, including a proposal to combine Daejeon with South Chungcheong Province for balanced regional growth beyond the Seoul area, and proposals to lower the age for criminal punishment.
The main survey involved 2,507 adults from Monday through Friday, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.
In another poll by the same firm on 1,002 people aged 18 and over, conducted Thursday and Friday, the ruling Democratic Party's approval rating fell 1.5 percentage points to 47.1 percent. The main opposition People Power Party's rating rose 1.2 percentage points to 33.8 percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at 95 percent confidence.
These findings highlight divided public views on recent policy initiatives amid stable economic signals.
