President Lee Jae-myung's First Week Approval Rating: 58.6% 'Positive'

The results of a public opinion poll on President Lee Jae-myung's performance in his first week of office were announced on the 16th.

In a survey conducted by Realmeter at the request of the Energy Economy Newspaper, from September 9 to 13, targeting 2,507 males and females aged 18 and older nationwide, 58.6% of respondents rated President Lee's performance as 'good,' while 34.2% answered 'bad.' The 'don't know' response accounted for 7.2%.

58.6% rated President Lee's performance as 'good.'

Realmeter analyzed that "the positive expectations due to improvements in economic indicators like the KOSPI surpassing the 2,900 level, external economic activities including phone calls with leaders from Japan and China, and meetings with economic organizations, as well as efforts to push forward supplementary budgets have positively influenced public sentiment."

Comparison With Previous Presidents and Regional/Age Evaluations

President Lee's first job approval rating is higher compared to past presidents, at 52.1% for Yoon Suk-yeol and 54.8% for Park Geun-hye, but lower than former presidents Moon Jae-in (81.6%) and Lee Myung-bak (76.0%).

By region, the Gwangju and Jeolla area showed the highest positive evaluation at 75.8%.

On the other hand, the conservative stronghold regions of Daegu and North Gyeongsang reported the lowest at 47.7%, while the Busan, Ulsan, and South Gyeongsang area had a nearly even split at 48.4%.

In the capital region, Incheon and Gyeonggi received a positive evaluation of 62.6%, while Seoul saw a 56.4% positive rating.

By age group, those in their 40s had the highest positive rating at 73.0%, whereas the 20s had the lowest at 42.8%.

Regarding the outlook for President Lee's future performance, 59.4% responded that he would 'do well,' which rose by 1.2 percentage points compared to the previous week. Responses indicating he would 'not do well' decreased by 0.6 percentage points to 34.9%, while 'don't know' responses were at 5.7%.

Party Support Ratings: Democratic Party at 49.9%, Expanding Gap with People's Power Party

In a party support survey, the Democratic Party recorded 49.9%, marking an increase of 1.9 percentage points compared to the previous survey and nearing a majority support level.

Realmeter analyzed that "the expectancy effect from President Lee's inauguration, the promotion of livelihood policies, and judicial reform have galvanized his support base."

Conversely, the People's Power Party experienced a decline to 30.4%, a drop of 4.4 percentage points during the same period.

Realmeter explained that "the continuing decline in support ratings is associated with negative issues such as internal chaos over the next leadership structure innovation and reform proposals, remarks regarding party dissolution procedures, and ongoing judicial risks for former President Yoon."

As a result, the support rating gap between the Democratic Party and the People's Power Party widened by 6.3 percentage points to 19.5%.

The Reformist New Party registered 4.5%, a decline of 1.3 percentage points, while the Justice Reform Party was at 2.9%, down 0.8 percentage points, and the Progressive Party rose slightly by 0.3 percentage points to 1.7%.

This survey was conducted using a fully automated wireless response method, with a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, and a response rate of 6.3%. Detailed information can be found on the website of the Central Election Survey Deliberation Committee.

Image source: President Lee Jae-myung is making a phone call with Japan's Prime Minister Kishida Fumio at the presidential office in Yongsan, Seoul, on June 9, 2025. / News1 (Presidential Office), President Lee Jae-myung / News1, Kim Byung-ki, new floor leader / News1, Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People's Power Party, holding a farewell press conference at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on June 12, 2025. / News1