President Lee Jae-myung's job approval rating reached 67%, according to a poll released Friday.
The survey, conducted by Gallup Korea from May 31 to June 2 among 1,001 eligible voters aged 18 and older nationwide, found that 67% of respondents said the president is "doing well." The figure rose 2 percentage points from the previous survey, tying the all-time high recorded in the third week of March since Lee took office. Negative responses of "doing poorly" fell 2 percentage points to 22%. Those who reserved judgment accounted for 11%.
Top reasons cited for positive assessments included "economy and livelihoods" (18%), "doing well overall" (12%), and "job competence/capability" (10%). Negative assessments were attributed to "economy, livelihoods, and high exchange rates" (20%), "excessive welfare/livelihood subsidies" (11%), "doing poorly overall," and "ethical issues/lack of qualification" (10%).
In party approval, the Democratic Party of Korea recorded 48%, up 2 percentage points from the previous survey and the highest since the current administration took office. The People Power Party (PPP) fell 1 percentage point to 18%, its lowest since the current administration began.
The gap between the two parties widened significantly in Seoul, the most closely watched battleground ahead of the June 3 local elections. The Democratic Party polled at 51% while the PPP stood at 13%, a 38 percentage point gap.
Other parties polled as follows: the Reform Party at 2%, the Rebuilding Korea Party and the Progressive Party each at 1%. Unaffiliated voters accounted for 28%.
Respondents favored ruling party victories in the upcoming local elections. Some 46% said "ruling party candidates should win more seats," while 29% said "opposition party candidates should win more seats." Those who reserved judgment stood at 26%.
The survey was conducted via computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) using randomly generated virtual mobile numbers provided by Korea's three major mobile carriers. The response rate was 12.3%. The margin of error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. Further details are available on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.