Lee's approval rating remains unchanged at 53.1%: Poll
Published: 26 Jan. 2026, 11:45
![President Lee Jae Myung holds a press conference for the new year at the Blue House in central Seoul on Jan. 21. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/26/5a18c2bb-3180-4eec-89a8-097bdd8e734a.jpg)
President Lee Jae Myung holds a press conference for the new year at the Blue House in central Seoul on Jan. 21. [YONHAP]
President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating remained unchanged from a week earlier, a poll showed Monday, despite a series of political controversies over his nomination of the budget minister and the ruling party's proposed merger with a minor party.
The survey by Realmeter showed Lee's approval rating came to 53.1 percent, while the negative evaluation inched down 0.1 percentage point to 42.1 percent.
The pollster said the upward momentum in the first half of the week, driven by the Kospi index topping the 5,000-point milestone and Lee's press conference for the new year, was offset later in the week amid controversies over his nomination of the budget minister and a proposed party merger involving the ruling Democratic Party (DP).
On Sunday, Lee decided to withdraw his nomination for Lee Hye-hoon, a former three-term lawmaker of the opposition bloc who was nominated last month to lead the newly established Ministry of Planning and Budget, amid allegations of suspicious real estate dealings involving her family and her alleged mistreatment of subordinates.
The DP's proposal to merge with the minor liberal Rebuilding Korea Party last Thursday, four months ahead of the local elections, raised a widening debate within the ruling party.
The survey was conducted on 2,509 adults from Monday to Friday last week and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points, with a confidence level of 95 percent.
In a separate survey conducted by the same pollster on 1,000 individuals aged 18 and over Thursday and Friday, the approval rating for the ruling Democratic Party rose 0.2 percentage points to 42.7 percent.
Support for the main opposition People Power Party edged up 2.5 percentage points to 39.5 percent.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, with a confidence level of 95 percent.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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