Lee’s approval edges up 0.1 point: Realmeter

Dec 08, 2025, 09:32 am

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President Lee Jae-myung listens to participants during a town hall meeting titled “Listening to the Heart of Chungnam,” held at Korea University of Technology and Education in Cheonan on December 5. / Source: Yonhap News

President Lee Jae-myung’s job approval rating edged up by 0.1 percentage point from the previous week, according to a Realmeter poll released on December 8.

Realmeter conducted the survey of 2,520 adults nationwide from December 1 to 5 at the request of Energy Economy News. The poll found that 54.9% of respondents rated Lee’s performance positively, up slightly from 54.8% the week before.

Negative assessments rose to 42.1%, an increase of 1.4 percentage points week-on-week. As a result, the gap between positive and negative ratings narrowed from 15.4 points to 12.8 points.

Realmeter attributed the slowdown in Lee’s upward momentum to controversy surrounding former presidential media communications secretary Kim Nam-kook and allegations of influence-peddling.

“Messages emphasizing democracy — including the special statement marking one year since the emergency martial law incident and the push to designate a National Day of Sovereignty — helped consolidate support among Lee’s base, with approval approaching 60% midweek,” the polling firm noted. “But toward the end of the week, the court’s rejection of the arrest warrant for Rep. Choo Kyung-ho, personnel-related scandals within the ruling party, and criticism of the government’s response to sudden heavy snowfall in Seoul combined to weaken the upward trend and increase downward pressure.”

The survey recorded a response rate of 4.5% and has a margin of error of ±2.0 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. It was conducted using a 100% wireless automated response (ARS) random-digit-dialing method. More details are available on the Realmeter website and the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.

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