Yoon's approval rating falls to 34.1 pct: Yonhap News survey

▲ President Yoon Suk Yeol waves before leaving for the United States on Aug. 17, 2023, for a trilateral summit meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Camp David presidential retreat. (Yonhap)

▲ South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (L) poses for a photo with U.S. President Joe Biden (C) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as they attend a luncheon following a trilateral summit meeting at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland on Aug. 18, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

politics-Yonhap survey

Yoon's approval rating falls to 34.1 pct: Yonhap News survey

By Kim Han-joo

SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating has fallen to 34.1 percent from a month ago, according to a survey conducted jointly by Yonhap News Agency and Yonhap News TV on Wednesday.

The survey also revealed that the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) would secure 30.5 percent and 29.9 percent of the vote, respectively, if parliamentary elections scheduled for next April were held tomorrow.

Yonhap News Agency and Yonhap News TV jointly commissioned the survey to gauge public sentiment. The survey was conducted by Metrix on 1,000 adults aged 18 and older Saturday and Sunday.

According to the poll, the positive assessment of Yoon's performance was 34.1 percent, a 3.9 percentage-point fall from the previous survey conducted a month ago, while the negative assessment gained 5.7 percentage points to 58 percent.

The survey identified defense and diplomacy as the most frequently cited factors in both positive and negative assessments of Yoon's performance.

In terms of age demographics, the poll showed that Yoon's positive assessment declined across all age brackets, notably among those in their 30s, dropping from 29.5 percent in the previous poll to 22.9 percent.

Regionally, the positive assessment of respondents living in Seoul, and the southern cities of Busan and Ulsan increased by 5.3 and 2.7 percentage points, respectively.

In contrast, the positive assessment of respondents living in Daejeon and Daegu decreased by 12.2 and 11.1 percentage points, respectively.

The poll also indicated a close race between the PPP and the DP in April's general elections.

Support for the PPP decreased by 0.8 percentage point from the previous survey, while support for the DP increased by 2.5 percentage points.

The survey showed that 2.3 percent of respondents would choose candidates from the minor opposition Justice Party, while 18 percent had no preference for candidates, representing a 0.2 percentage-point increase from the previous survey.

In detail, 74.1 percent of respondents with a positive assessment of Yoon's performance said they would vote for PPP candidates, while 47.9 percent of those with a negative assessment of Yoon's performance favored DP candidates for parliamentary seats.

Regarding the trilateral summit held at the U.S. Camp David presidential retreat in August between leaders of South Korea, the United States and Japan, opinions were divided, with 45.1 percent giving a positive assessment and 44.8 percent giving a negative assessment.

The poll showed that 70.8 percent of conservative respondents believed the summit would strengthen national security, while 68.3 percent of progressive respondents believed it would not be helpful.

Regarding the possibility of executing the death penalty in light of a series of heinous crimes targeting random people, 74.3 percent were in support, and 22.3 percent were in opposition.

The results had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.

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