Polling mirage? Yoon Suk-yeol’s rising approval rates may not be what they seem



Analysis Polling mirage? Yoon Suk-yeol’s rising approval rates may not be what they seem New survey puts South Korean president’s popularity at 8-month high but may not provide sound basis for policy decisions Karl FriedhoffMarch 9, 2023 SHARE COPY LINK FACEBOOK X LINKEDIN MASTODON President Yoon Suk-yeol attends the People Power Party's national convention, March 8, 2023 \| Image: ROK Presidential Office A new poll has found that South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s favorability hit an eight-month high in recent weeks, as the Yoon administration promotes a controversial new deal to resolve the country’s wartime force labor dispute with Japan. RealMeter polling conducted before Seoul announced the new deal found that Yoon’s approval rating hit 43%, up 6 percentage points from last month. However, results from other outlets provide a different picture of Yoon’s presidency: The National Barometer Survey (NBS) put his approval rate at 37%, and Gallup Korea at 36%. The gap between the polling results muddies the waters and could © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from Korea Risk Group. LATEST ANALYSIS 01South Korea’s CPTPP push exposes the cost of turning trade gains into consensus 02AI storage boom gives South Korea battery makers an EV overcapacity lifeline 03South Korea’s Mexico strategy runs into the hard limits of USMCA politics 04Preschool test ban forces South Korea’s English hagwons to rethink placement 05Lee Jae Myung’s Wall Street pitch tests South Korea’s capital market credibility 06US midterm clock raises stakes for South Korea’s $200 billion investment talks 07Lee’s Hormuz red line tests South Korea’s leverage in $350 billion US talks 08South Korea’s AI data center boom is colliding with the true cost of power

Analysis

Polling mirage? Yoon Suk-yeol’s rising approval rates may not be what they seem

New survey puts South Korean president’s popularity at 8-month high but may not provide sound basis for policy decisions

Karl FriedhoffMarch 9, 2023

Polling mirage? Yoon Suk-yeol’s rising approval rates may not be what they seem

President Yoon Suk-yeol attends the People Power Party's national convention, March 8, 2023 | Image: ROK Presidential Office

A new poll has found that South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s favorability hit an eight-month high in recent weeks, as the Yoon administration promotes a controversial new deal to resolve the country’s wartime force labor dispute with Japan.

RealMeter polling conducted before Seoul announced the new deal found that Yoon’s approval rating hit 43%, up 6 percentage points from last month.

However, results from other outlets provide a different picture of Yoon’s presidency: The National Barometer Survey (NBS) put his approval rate at 37%, and Gallup Korea at 36%.

The gap between the polling results muddies the waters and could

Polling mirage? Yoon Suk-yeol’s rising approval rates may not be what they seem

LATEST ANALYSIS

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Karl Friedhoff