Han tops Gallup Korea poll of most trusted politicians

Says appointing Kim Seung-won would send president's trust rating 'to the basement'

'I'd also like to crash Friday's presidential press conference and ask about the oppa poison lobby'

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, who topped a poll of most trusted politicians, said Wednesday that the more serious problem is not his No. 1 ranking but the sitting president's collapse in public trust. Han is seen here speaking about justice minister nominee Kim Seung-won on Tuesday. [Yonhap]
Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, who topped a poll of most trusted politicians, said Wednesday that the more serious problem is not his No. 1 ranking but the sitting president's collapse in public trust. Han is seen here speaking about justice minister nominee Kim Seung-won on Tuesday. [Yonhap]

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon said Wednesday that a poll showing him as the most trusted politician in South Korea pointed to a more troubling finding: the sitting president's trust rating has collapsed.

Han shared the results of the "2026 Korea Trust Survey," conducted by Gallup Korea on behalf of the magazine Sisain, on his Facebook page, saying, "If President Lee appoints Kim Seung-won of the 'oppa poison lobby,' the president's trust rating will sink to the basement."

In a separate Facebook post, Han said he would "look only to the people and move forward without wavering," adding, "I truly want to earn even greater trust from the public."

He also took aim at President Lee Jae Myung's press conference scheduled for Friday, writing: "The Lee Jae Myung administration had a prime minister's office section chief impersonate a journalist and a civilian to crash National Assembly member Han Dong-hoon's press conference — I'd also like to crash Friday's press conference and ask about the oppa poison lobby." He then posed a direct question: "Did President Lee choose Kim Seung-won knowing about the oppa poison lobby?"

The survey, conducted by Gallup Korea on behalf of Sisain from Sept. 6 to 8 among 1,013 men and women aged 18 and older residing nationwide, was released Wednesday. When asked in an open-ended question which currently active politician among the ruling and opposition parties they trusted most, 39.3 percent of respondents answered "none, don't know, or refused to answer" — the highest share of any response.

Excluding that group, Han received 11.4 percent of responses, making him the most trusted politician in the survey.

President Lee, who had held the top spot unchallenged since 2021, ceded the No. 1 position to Han for the first time.

The same survey also found that distrust of President Lee outweighed trust.

Some 50.4 percent of respondents said they distrust the president, while those who said they trust him was limited to 35.9 percent. Another 12.6 percent were neutral.

Last year, trust in President Lee stood at 51.2 percent, outpacing distrust at 34.1 percent.

On a trust score scale of 0 to 10, President Lee recorded 4.19 points, down 1.35 points from 5.54 last year.

Sisain said the drop in President Lee's trust score was the second largest in the survey's history, behind only former President Park Geun-hye, whose score fell sharply from 5.39 to 3.91 in 2016.

The survey was conducted via telephone interviews using a dual-frame method combining household landline random-digit dialing and mobile phone random-digit dialing. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level, and the response rate was 8.7 percent. Further details are available on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.


shindw@heraldcorp.com