Overview
- A Realmeter poll showed President Lee Jae Myung’s approval rating fell to 40.2 percent, the lowest since he took office and the sixth straight weekly decline, the poll reported Monday.
- Disapproval rose to 56.9 percent, up 2.8 points from the prior week, in a presidential survey of 2,026 adults conducted Aug. 18–21 with a margin of error of about ±2.0–2.2 percentage points.
- Support for the ruling Democratic Party dropped about six points to 41.9 percent while the opposition People Power Party rose to 37.6 percent in a separate Realmeter poll of 1,009 adults taken Aug. 20–21.
- Realmeter linked the shifts to three specific issues: public distrust over a proposal to build apartments in Seoul’s Yongsan Park, a partisan row after Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae sent written recommendations for two Supreme Court nominees rather than delivering them in person, and voter worry about smaller South Korea–U.S. joint military drills.
- The decline was strongest among self‑identified conservative voters and people aged 70 and older, a trend that could boost opposition momentum in coming legislative fights and sharpen scrutiny of Lee’s housing and security choices with voters.