Gallup Korea reported on the 17th that President Lee Jae Myung job approval stood at 66%. After spending two weeks at a record 67%, it fell by 1 percentage point in the third week. Regarding expectations for the June 3 local elections, 45% answered that more ruling-party candidates would win, while 28% expected more opposition candidates to win.

In a poll of 1,000 adults nationwide conducted by Gallup Korea from the 14th to the 16th and released that day, the positive assessment of President Lee Jae Myung performance was 66%. This is down 1 percentage point from the record 67% in the prior survey last week.

Negative assessments of his performance were 26%. No opinion was 8%.

Reasons cited for positive evaluations included the economy and livelihoods (17%), diplomacy (14%), competence and ability (11%), generally doing well (7%), drive, execution, and speed (6%), policies for ordinary people and welfare, and communication (5% each), and acting for the public and real estate policy (3% each).

Reasons cited for negative evaluations included the economy, livelihoods, and a high exchange rate (17%); diplomacy (12%); excessive welfare and livelihood support funds (9%); and waste of the national treasury, extra budgets, and fiscal expansion (7%).

Party support stood at 48% for the Democratic Party, 19% for the People Power Party, and 2% each for the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, the Progressive Party, and the Reform New Party. Other parties and groups were at 1%, and unaffiliated voters with no party preference were 26%. The Democratic Party has maintained its highest support since the launch of the current administration for three straight weeks, while the People Power Party fell from 25% in early February to a low of 18% early this month and has remained in the teens.

On expectations for the June local elections, 45% said they expect more ruling-party candidates to win, compared with 28% who expect more opposition candidates to win. Gallup Korea said the gap between the two sides is unchanged from two weeks ago and has widened from 3 percentage points in October last year to 10 percentage points in January and 17 percentage points in April.

This survey was conducted through interviewer-administered phone interviews to randomly generated mobile virtual numbers. The margin of sampling error is ±3.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, the contact rate is 38.6%, and the response rate is 13.8%. For details, see the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.