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President Lee Jae-myung applauds during the opening ceremony of the 2025 World Congress of the International Political Science Association (IPSA) held at COEX in Seoul’s Gangnam District on July 13. / Source: Yonhap News

President Lee Jae-myung’s approval rating has climbed to 64.6%, marking a 2.5 percentage point increase from the previous week, according to a poll released on July 14.

The Realmeter survey, commissioned by Energy Economy News, was conducted from July 7 to 11 among 2,513 voters aged 18 or older nationwide. Negative assessments fell by 1.4 percentage points to 30.0%, while 5.4% responded with “don’t know.”

Realmeter analyzed that the approval boost was likely driven by a combination of recent high-profile appointments and ongoing developments such as the re-arrest of former President Yoon Suk-yeol and investigations by the special counsel.

By region, support for President Lee was highest in Gwangju and Jeolla provinces at 85.6%, followed by Jeju (67.8%) and Seoul (65.4%). In Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, his approval rose 4.7 points to 58.6%. Gangwon Province was the only region where support fell short of a majority, at 49.5%.

Among age groups, approval was strongest in voters in their 40s (76.3%) and 50s (74.5%). Notably, support among those in their 20s—historically a lower-performing demographic for Lee—rose 6.8 points to 53.8%. Among voters aged 70 and above, approval stood at 56.2%.

A separate poll on party support, conducted among 1,003 voters from July 10 to 11, showed the Democratic Party gaining 2.4 points to reach 56.2%. Support for the People Power Party dropped by 4.5 points to 24.3%, widening the gap between the two parties to 31.9 points.

Both polls were conducted through automated phone interviews using 100% wireless sampling. The presidential approval survey had a response rate of 6.0% with a margin of error of ±2.0 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. The party support survey had a 5.5% response rate and a ±3.1 percentage point margin of error.

For full details, refer to the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.