President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating stood at 57.1%, according to a poll released on Monday.
The survey, conducted by Realmeter for Energy Economy News from May 23-27 among 2,507 eligible voters aged 18 and older nationwide, showed the president's approval rating fell 1.1 percentage points from the previous week. After rising for four consecutive weeks and approaching 60%, the rating declined slightly for the first time in six weeks.
"Despite positive economic indicators including finance and exports, the rating dipped slightly after six weeks as social conflicts emerged over regional equity concerns in the administrative integration process and public debate on lowering the age of juvenile offenders," Realmeter said. "Seoul and the Yeongnam region showed particular declines, which appears to reflect a combination of regional alienation sentiment and asset anxiety from falling real estate prices."
The disapproval rating rose 1.0 percentage point to 38.2%. Those responding "don't know" accounted for 4.7%.
A separate party approval survey conducted May 26-27 among 1,002 eligible voters showed the Democratic Party of Korea at 47.1% and the People Power Party at 33.8%. The Democratic Party's support fell 1.5 percentage points from the previous week, while the People Power Party rose 1.2 percentage points. The gap between the two parties narrowed from 16.0 percentage points to 13.3 percentage points but remained outside the margin of error for the fifth consecutive week.
"The Democratic Party's decline appears to reflect multiple factors: controversy over ramming through judicial reforms including the law distortion crime and espionage law, regional alienation in South Chungcheong and Daejeon triggered by prioritizing Gwangju-South Jeolla integration, and defection of voters in the capital region and older demographics due to falling real estate prices," Realmeter said.
"The People Power Party's rebound appears driven by consolidating conservative support through filibuster lending tactics, while capitalizing on controversy over excluding Daejeon-South Chungcheong and Daegu-North Gyeongsang from integration by framing it as opposition to hasty consolidation," the pollster added.
Other parties polled as follows: Rebuilding Korea Party at 3.3%, Reform Party at 2.2%, Progressive Party at 1.1%, and others at 2.4%.
The presidential approval survey contacted 46,758 people and received 2,507 responses, yielding a 5.4% response rate. The margin of error is ±2.0 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. The party approval survey contacted 24,000 people and received 1,002 responses, yielding a 4.2% response rate. The margin of error is ±3.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
Both surveys were conducted via wireless automated response (100%). Details are available on the National Election Survey Deliberation Committee website.