Seoul: Nearly 60 percent of South Koreans express confidence in President Lee Jae-myung's ability to effectively manage state affairs, as revealed by a recent survey.
According to Yonhap News Agency, a Realmeter survey conducted last Wednesday and Thursday among 1,012 adults found that 58.2 percent of respondents expect President Lee to perform well in his duties. In contrast, 35.5 percent of those surveyed expressed doubts about his performance, while 6.3 percent remained uncertain.
Realmeter noted that while the positive assessment of President Lee, who assumed office last week, is relatively modest compared to former presidents' initial approval ratings, it is still 5.5 percentage points higher than that of his predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol. Historical data from Realmeter indicates that former President Lee Myung-bak had the highest initial approval rating at 79.3 percent, followed by former Presidents Moon Jae-in at 74.8 percent, Park Geun-hye at 64.4 percent, and Yoon at 52.7 percent.
The survey also revealed that 41.5 percent of respondents view economic recovery and stabilization of people's livelihoods as the most urgent task for the new administration. This was followed by 20.4 percent who identified judicial reform as a priority. Realmeter emphasized that these results reflect public concern over economic instability, slowdowns, and rising prices, which significantly impact citizens' lives.
Furthermore, the approval rating for the ruling Democratic Party (DP) increased to 48 percent, marking a 1.2 percentage point rise from the previous week. Meanwhile, the People Power Party experienced a slight decline in its approval rating, dropping to 34.8 percent, thereby widening the gap with the DP to 13.2 percentage points.
The survey's margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level. President Lee assumed office on June 4 following a snap election triggered by the ousting of former President Yoon.