President Yoon Suk-yeol’s approval rating recorded 33%, dropping lower than the negative views against him in the last two weeks, according to a survey released on July 14. President Yoon’s approval ratings were lowest among respondents in their twenties and forties. More than half of the respondents said that the disciplinary action against People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok was the result of a political decision.

According to a national barometer survey (NBS) of 1,001 people ages 18 and older conducted by Embrain Public, Kstat Research, KRi and Hankook Research on July 11-13, 33% of the respondents said that President Yoon was doing a good job in running the country, while 53% said he was doing a poor job. His approval rating dropped 12% from two weeks ago (approval rating 45%, negative assessment 37%), while negative views rose 16% to form a “death cross.”

A look at the age groups showed that the president’s approval ratings were lowest among people in their twenties and forties with 23% each. The approval ratings were 28% among people in their fifties, 32% among thirty-somethings, 47% among people in their sixties and 53% among people ages 70 and older.

As for the reason why the people disapproved of the president’s handling of state affairs, 30% answered it was because the president “was dogmatic and one-sided,” 28% because he “lacked experience and competence,” 16% because he “appointed inappropriate figures to his cabinet,” 9% because he “did not implement the pledges he made,” 7% because he “lacked a vision on policies,” and 6% because he “lacked effort for integration and governance.” Those who approved of the president did so because “he was decisive” 28%; “He communicated clearly with the people,” 18%; “He was fair and just,” 18%; “He faithfully implemented his pledges,” 14%, “He was competent and reasonable,” 10%, and “He sought integration and was embracive,” 6%.

When it came to the political parties, 37% supported the People Power Party, while 28% the Democratic Party of Korea and 5% the Justice Party. Support for the People Power dropped 3% from two weeks ago, while it rose 2% for the Democratic Party. This narrowed the margin between the two parties to a single digit figure (9%) for the first time since the survey in the fourth week of April. Support for the People Power Party has dropped since the survey in the first week of June.

As for the party’s disciplinary action against its leader Lee Jun-seok, 54% replied that “It was the result of a political decision,” 23% more than those who said it was “The result of a fair process.” Even among People Power Party supporters, 48% answered that it was a political decision, more than those who said it was the result of a fair process (39%). As for Lee’s future, a similar number of people answered that he “should voluntarily resign” (45%) and that he “should conduct his duties as the party leader until the end of his term” (46%).

The latest survey was conducted through telephone interviews using virtual cell phone numbers (100%) provided by the three domestic telecommunications service providers. The response rate was 14.4% and the margin of error was ±3.1% with a confidence level of 95%. For more details, please refer to the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.