Lee Jae-myung approval falls to 40.2% — a sixth straight weekly decline
The job approval rating of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung registered 40.2 percent in a Realmeter survey commissioned by Energy Economic Daily, conducted August 18 to 21 among 2,026 voters aged 18 and over and released on August 24, 2026. That is down 2.8 percentage points on the week, the lowest reading of his term, and a sixth consecutive weekly fall. Disapproval rose 2.8 points to 56.9 percent, leading outside the plus or minus 2.2 point margin of error for a fourth straight week
The three lines
- Numbers — approval 40.2% (-2.8pt), disapproval 56.9% (+2.8pt). Lowest of his term, sixth straight weekly fall
- Gap — disapproval leads by 16.7 points, outside the margin of error for a fourth consecutive week
- Parties — Democratic Party 41.9%, People Power Party 37.6%. The August 17 party convention produced no bounce
Key questions
- What is Lee Jae-myung's approval rating?
- **40.2 percent**, in a Realmeter survey commissioned by Energy Economic Daily, conducted **August 18–21, 2026** among **2,026** South Korean voters aged 18 and over and released on **August 24**. That is **down 2.8 percentage points** on the week and the **lowest of his term**. Disapproval rose 2.8 points to **56.9 percent**. The margin of error is **±2.2 percentage points** at 95 percent confidence. One caution worth carrying: approval ratings differ by pollster. 40.2 percent is **this survey's value**, not a single national fact. This brief covers why in 'How approval-rating polls work — why ARS and live-interview surveys produce different numbers.'
- Why did it fall?
- Realmeter cited four factors. ① A controversy over **housing supply at Yongsan Park**, which it said deepened distrust of property policy. ② Partisan conflict over the **Supreme Court chief justice's written nomination** of justices. ③ Conflict over a **constitutional amendment push**. ④ Security unease following the **scaling back of joint military exercises with the United States**. The pollster said the combination widened defections among conservative voters and those aged 70 and over. Note the status of this: it is the **pollster's interpretation**, not something respondents were asked — approval surveys generally do not ask for reasons.
- Didn't the party convention help?
- **It did not show up.** The Democratic Party elected Kim Min-seok as leader at its convention on **August 17**. A new leadership usually produces a temporary lift, the 'convention bounce'. This survey ran **August 18–21**, immediately afterwards, and presidential approval fell 2.8 points anyway. Party support was **41.9 percent** for the Democratic Party against **37.6 percent** for the People Power Party — a gap of 4.3 points. This brief covered the convention in 'Kim Min-seok elected Democratic Party leader with 54.08% — the third-place votes that made the majority.'
President Lee Jae-myung's job approval registered 40.2 percent — the lowest of his term and a sixth consecutive weekly decline.
1. Read the survey before the number
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Pollster | Realmeter |
| Commissioned by | Energy Economic Daily |
| Fieldwork | August 18–21, 2026 |
| Sample | 2,026 voters aged 18+ |
| Margin of error | ±2.2 points at 95% confidence |
| Released | August 24 |
The fieldwork dates matter more than the release date. Responses were collected August 18–21. Everything that happened after August 22 — the Canadian tariffs taking effect, Samsung's share collapse, the US sanctions campaign on Iran — is not in this number.
2. The movement
| Measure | This survey | Weekly change |
|---|---|---|
| Approve | 40.2% | -2.8pt |
| Disapprove | 56.9% | +2.8pt |
| Gap | 16.7pt | widening |
Approval fell by exactly what disapproval gained: 2.8 points each way. That is not undecideds increasing — it is movement straight from one column to the other.
And disapproval has now led approval outside the margin of error for four consecutive weeks.
A lead inside the margin of error cannot be called a lead at all. A lead outside it, sustained for a month, is a direction rather than a wobble.
3. The four causes the pollster named
| Factor | Detail |
|---|---|
| Property | Controversy over housing supply at Yongsan Park deepened distrust of policy |
| Judiciary | Partisan conflict over the chief justice's written nomination of Supreme Court justices |
| Constitution | Conflict over the push for constitutional amendment |
| Security | Unease after joint exercises with the US were scaled back |
Realmeter said these combined to widen defections among conservative voters and those aged 70 and over.
One qualification belongs here. This is the pollster's interpretation, not the respondents' answer. Approval surveys generally ask only whether the president is doing a good or bad job; they do not ask why. Causes are inferred by matching the result against the news of the same period.
Three of the four are stories this brief has covered — "Written nomination of Supreme Court justices (August 18) — the chief justice sent paper instead of going to the Blue House," "What the power to nominate Supreme Court justices is," and "Ulchi Freedom Shield ends early on August 21 — the first time an exercise has been cut mid-run."
4. No convention bounce
The Democratic Party elected Kim Min-seok as its leader at the convention on August 17.
This survey began the following day and ran four days.
| Party | Support |
|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 41.9% |
| People Power Party | 37.6% |
| Gap | 4.3pt |
Presidential approval fell 2.8 points across that window, and the party gap is narrow.
This brief covered the convention in "Kim Min-seok elected Democratic Party leader with 54.08% — the third-place votes that made the majority." What did not happen is the transfer: a decision inside the party did not become support outside it.
5. 40.2 and 40.6
Some outlets published 40.6 percent the same day.
This brief uses 40.2 percent, the figure carried by the majority of reports. Whether the other number is a different question, a different survey or a transcription error could not be determined.
For approval ratings, this kind of divergence is the norm rather than the exception. Method, question wording and weighting each move the result by points at a time. This brief covers the mechanics in "How approval-rating polls work — why ARS and live-interview surveys produce different numbers."
Which is the discipline to carry: 40.2 percent is not "Korea's approval rating for Lee Jae-myung." It is this survey's value.
6. What we could not confirm
- Causes — the pollster's reading, not respondents' answers.
- The 40.6 figure — origin undetermined.
- Method mix and response rate — not verified from source data.
- Other pollsters — no contemporaneous comparison available.
- What to watch next — next week's survey. Whether the 40 percent line holds after six weeks of decline is one marker; the events of August 22–24 only start appearing from the next round of fieldwork.
Sources
- MoneyToday — President Lee's approval rating 40.2%, a new low, sixth straight weekly decline
- Digital Times — Lee's approval 40.2%, falling for six weeks; DP 41.9%, PPP 37.6% [Realmeter]
- Asia Today — President Lee's approval hits new low of 40.2%; DP 41.9%, PPP 37.6%
- Electronic Times — President Lee's approval falls again to a record-low 40.2%
- Kyunghyang Shinmun — No convention bounce: President Lee's approval barely holds 40%
- Seoul Economic Daily — Property distrust drags Lee's approval to a record-low 40.2% [Realmeter]
- Women's News — President Lee's approval rating 40.2%, a new low [Realmeter]