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President Yoon Suk-yeol chairs an emergency meeting on economic issues and people’s livelihoods on July 14. (presidential office pool photo)

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s job approval rating continues to fall. The percentage of respondents who say Yoon is doing a good job has fallen below 40% in the full spectrum of polls, and the gap between those who approve and disapprove of his job performance appears to be widening.

A National Barometer Survey poll of 1,001 adults around the country carried out on July 11-13 by Embrain Public, KSTAT Research, Korea Research and Hankook Research found that the percentage of respondents who think Yoon is doing a good job as president was at 33%, down 12 percentage points from two weeks earlier. The poll had a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 points.

The same survey found that 53% of respondents think Yoon is doing a poor job, which was 16 points higher than two weeks ago. This is the first time that negative assessments have outnumbered positive ones in the National Barometer Survey since Yoon’s inauguration as president.

The most popular reason those who disapproved of Yoon’s performance cited for their dissatisfaction was Yoon’s “dogmatism and one-sidedness” (30%). Other reasons that followed were Yoon’s “lack of experience and ability” (28%), his “appointment of inappropriate figures to the Cabinet” (16%), his “backtracking on campaign promises” (9%), his “lack of vision” (7%), and his “lack of effort towards unity and cooperative governance” (6%).

The share of respondents who said Yoon lacked experience and ability increased by 8 percentage points compared to the week prior.

The red line signifies the percentage of positive assessments of Yoon’s performance between the third week of May and the second week of July, while the gray line shows the percentage of negative assessments of Yoon’s performance during the same period. Bar graphs at the bottom represent non-responses and “don’t know” responses. (captured from NBS website)

The most popular reason for approving of Yoon’s performance was his “quick decision-making skills” (28%), followed by his “ability to communicate well with the public” (18%), his “fairness and justness” (18%), his “keeping of campaign promises” (14%), his “ability and reasonableness” (10%), and his “embrace of unity and inclusivity” (6%).

Survey respondents were most likely to support the People Power Party (37%), followed by the Democratic Party (28%) and the Justice Party (5%). Since recording a support rating of 48% during the first week of June, the PPP saw the figure drop to 42%, 40%, and 37%.

During the same time period, the Democratic Party’s support rating remained at a standstill, shifting from 27% to 29%, 26%, and 28%.

By Joh Yun-yeong, staff reporter

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