A poll found that President Lee Jae-myung's job approval fell by nearly 4 percentage points before and after the June 3 local elections.
In a survey by Realmeter commissioned by Energy Economy News of 2,013 voters nationwide ages 18 and older on the 1st–2nd and 4th–5th, the president's job approval stood at 55.2%, down 3.9 percentage points from the previous week. The disapproval rating was 41.0%, up 4.2 percentage points.
By age, the rating fell 10.7 percentage points among people in their 30s to 38.8%, and by occupation, it fell 13.2 percentage points among students to 31.1%. By region, it dropped more than 3 percentage points in Seoul to 47.4%.
Realmeter analyzed that "administrative accountability over the ballot shortage, along with a push to check the government triggered by the Democratic Party of Korea's failure to retake the Seoul mayoralty, overlapped," and that "with a sharp rise in the exchange rate acting as a further drag in the latter half of the week, the approval rating fell sharply after the day following the local elections."
In party support, the Democratic Party of Korea fell 3.1 percentage points to 41.8%, while the People Power Party rose 2.6 percentage points to 41.1%, leaving them nearly tied. By age, Democratic Party support among people in their 30s fell 7.8 percentage points, while the People Power Party rose 4.4 percentage points among people in their 30s. The party support survey was conducted on the 4th–5th among 1,004 people ages 18 and older nationwide.
Realmeter interpreted the results by saying that "although it won by securing 12 metropolitan mayor and governor posts in the local elections, it failed to retake the highly symbolic Seoul mayoralty," and that "defeats in key battlegrounds such as Busan Buk-gap and Gyeonggi Pyeongtaek (by- and special elections) highlighted defections among moderates and people in their 30s."
Both surveys were conducted using wireless automated response. The presidential job approval poll had a margin of error of ±2.2 percentage points at a 95% confidence level and a response rate of 5.7%. The party support survey had a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level and a response rate of 5.6%. For details, see the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.