A worker at a real estate agency in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, watches a live broadcast of a national public forum on real estate policy on July 23. [Yonhap]
A worker at a real estate agency in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, watches a live broadcast of a national public forum on real estate policy on July 23. [Yonhap]

More than half of South Koreans hold a negative view of the Lee Jae Myung government's real estate and stock market policies, with disapproval running particularly high among people in their 30s, political independents and residents of the greater Seoul area, a new poll shows.

The survey, conducted by pollster Hangilresearch on behalf of Dubai Chewy Cookie News from Aug. 1 to 3 among 1,000 men and women aged 18 and older nationwide, found that 57.6 percent of respondents said the government is handling real estate policy poorly.

Breaking that figure down, 43.6 percent said the government is doing "very poorly" — nearly half of all respondents — while 14.0 percent said it is doing "somewhat poorly."

By contrast, 35.6 percent gave a positive assessment, trailing the negative rating by 22.0 percentage points. Of those, 15.8 percent said the government is doing "very well" and 19.8 percent said "somewhat well," while 6.8 percent said they were unsure.

Among age groups, respondents in their 30s registered the highest disapproval at 70.4 percent, with 62.2 percent of that cohort saying the government is doing "very poorly" on real estate.

Negative assessments declined with age: 61.5 percent among those aged 18 to 29, 60.7 percent among those in their 40s, 57.7 percent among those in their 50s, 49.5 percent among those 70 and older, and 48.2 percent among those in their 60s. Among respondents in their 60s, positive and negative ratings were nearly even, at 47.0 percent and 48.2 percent respectively.

By region, Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province recorded the highest disapproval at 70.0 percent, followed by Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province at 62.0 percent, Seoul at 60.3 percent, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province at 59.3 percent, the Chungcheong region at 54.5 percent, and Gangwon Province and Jeju at 49.1 percent. The Honam region was the exception, where 56.9 percent gave a positive rating and only 35.2 percent a negative one.

Among political independents — those with no party affiliation — disapproval reached 68.5 percent, far outpacing approval at 19.9 percent. Among Democratic Party supporters, 56.4 percent approved and 35.5 percent disapproved. Among People Power Party supporters, disapproval reached 86.5 percent.

Negative views of the government's stock market policies also exceeded 50 percent. Some 54.2 percent said the government is handling the issue poorly, compared with 38.3 percent who said it is doing well and 7.4 percent who were unsure.

In detail, 39.4 percent said the government is doing "very poorly" on stock market policy and 14.8 percent said "somewhat poorly," while 16.6 percent said "very well" and 21.7 percent said "somewhat well."

Again, respondents in their 30s showed the highest disapproval on stock market policy at 69.3 percent, followed by those in their 40s at 58.7 percent, those aged 18 to 29 at 52.9 percent, those in their 50s at 52.3 percent, those in their 60s at 50.5 percent, and those 70 and older at 43.1 percent.

Regionally, Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province posted the highest disapproval on stock market policy at 63.5 percent, narrowly ahead of Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province at 63.3 percent. Seoul came in at 58.3 percent, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province at 54.2 percent, the Chungcheong region at 46.6 percent, and Gangwon Province and Jeju at 45.8 percent. In the Honam region, 56.9 percent approved and 35.3 percent disapproved.

Among independents, 60.3 percent disapproved of the stock market policy and 27.4 percent approved. Democratic Party supporters gave a positive rating of 58.8 percent against a negative rating of 34.8 percent, while People Power Party supporters disapproved at a rate of 82.8 percent.

The poll used a random-digit dialing method combining landline and mobile numbers, with 3.6 percent of responses gathered via landline interview and 96.4 percent via automated response system. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level. Further details are available on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.


jshan@heraldcorp.com