President Lee Jae-myung speaks at a senior presidential secretary meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae-myung speaks at a senior presidential secretary meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday. [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating has fallen below 50 percent for the first time, extending a four-week consecutive decline driven by mounting controversy over economic policies including real estate and the stock market.

A Realmeter survey of 2,514 voters aged 18 and older nationwide, conducted Aug. 3-7 on behalf of Energy Economy Newspaper, found that 43.3 percent of respondents gave a positive assessment of Lee's job performance — down 2.6 percentage points from the previous week.

Negative assessments rose 2.5 percentage points to 53.0 percent. The gap between positive and negative ratings stood at 9.7 percentage points, outside the margin of error of ±2.0 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. Those who responded "don't know" accounted for 3.6 percent.

By region, approval fell 5.9 percentage points in Seoul, 5.5 points in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, and 4.8 points in Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province. By age group, those 70 and older dropped 5.6 points, those in their 60s fell 5.3 points, and those in their 20s declined 2.5 points.

Realmeter said the decline reflected a convergence of factors — controversy over real estate tax reform and amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act, fallout from remarks about a military academy coup, and mounting economic anxiety amid a heat wave — that drove away support particularly in Seoul, among conservatives and among older voters, sustaining the four-week downward trend.

A separate party approval survey conducted Thursday and Friday among 1,007 voters aged 18 and older nationwide showed the Democratic Party at 44.6 percent and the People Power Party at 37.6 percent. The gap between the two parties stood at 7.0 percentage points, remaining outside the margin of error for a second consecutive week.

The Democratic Party edged down 0.5 percentage points from the previous survey, while the PPP slipped 0.1 points. The Rebuilding Korea Party stood at 2.9 percent, the Reform Party at 2.9 percent, and the Progressive Party at 1.5 percent. Other parties combined for 1.7 percent, and those with no party affiliation accounted for 9.0 percent.

Realmeter said the Democratic Party's slight decline came as support eroded in Seoul and among voters in their 20s and conservatives, amid the real estate tax reform controversy and deepening factional conflict among contenders at the party's leadership convention. The PPP saw some consolidation in Seoul, Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, and among conservatives as it pressed its offensive against the government's tax proposals and the Criminal Procedure Act amendments — but internal disciplinary disputes and gaffes by party leadership offset those gains, leaving its rating largely flat.

The survey was conducted using an automated response system with wireless-only random digit dialing. The presidential job approval poll had a response rate of 4.0 percent and a margin of error of ±2.0 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. The party approval poll had a response rate of 3.4 percent and a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. Full details are available on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.


mp1256@heraldcorp.com