First lady Kim Hae-kyung and President Lee Jae Myung arrive at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam on Sept. 9, 2026, following a state visit to France. (Yonhap)
More Koreans disapprove of President Lee Jae Myung than approve of him, a new national poll found Thursday. Lee’s approval rating fell to 43%, down 7 points in the span of two weeks, according to the results of a National Barometer Survey released Thursday. His disapproval rating rose to 48%, marking the first time since he took office that negative ratings have surpassed positive ones in a National Barometer Survey. Two weeks earlier, Lee’s approval rating stood at 50%, compared with 43% who disapproved. Since then, approval has fallen 7 percentage points, while disapproval has risen by 5 points.As for party support, the Democratic Party led with 39%, followed by the People Power Party at 25%. The Rebuilding Korea Party had 3%, the Reform Party 1%, and the Progressive Party 1%, while 30% of respondents were undecided or declined to state a preference.Two weeks earlier, the Democratic Party had 41% support and the People Power Party 20%.The latest National Barometer Survey was conducted by Embrain Public, Kstat Research, Korea Research and Hankook Research.The survey polled 1,002 Koreans aged 18 and older via telephone interviews from Monday to Wednesday. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.Further details are available on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.By Jang Na-rye, staff reporterPlease direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
