In a recent Realmeter poll, President Lee Jae-myung's positive evaluation of his state affairs performance dropped to the low 40% range for the first time since his inauguration, marking a decline for four consecutive weeks. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party of Korea has maintained its lead over the People Power Party beyond the margin of error in party approval ratings.

■ President Lee Jae-myung's Approval Rating: Positive 43.3%, Negative 53.0% According to a survey commissioned by Energy Economic Daily and conducted by Realmeter from the 3rd to the 7th among 2,514 voters aged 18 and older nationwide (100% wireless automated response·ARS), President Lee's positive evaluation of his state affairs performance recorded 43.3%, down 2.6 percentage points (p) from the previous week. On the other hand, the negative evaluation rose by 2.5 percentage points to 53.0%, widening the gap between positive and negative to 9.7 percentage points. This falls outside the 95% confidence level margin of sampling error (±2.0 percentage points). Those who withheld judgment on his state affairs performance accounted for 3.6%. Looking at the approval rating trend, President Lee's rating slightly rebounded to 48.0% in the third week of July from 47.7% in the second week, but has since been on a continuous decline: 46.3% → 45.9% → 43.3%.

■ Party Approval Ratings: Democratic Party 44.6% vs. People Power Party 37.6% In the party approval rating survey conducted on the 6th and 7th, the Democratic Party of Korea recorded 44.6% and the People Power Party 37.6%. The gap between the two parties stood at 7.0 percentage points, remaining outside the margin of error for two consecutive weeks. The Democratic Party dropped by 0.5 percentage points from the previous week, while the People Power Party fell by 0.1 percentage points. The Rebuilding Korea Party and the Reform Party received 2.9% each, the Progressive Party 1.5%, and independents 9.0%.

■ Notable Erosion by Region and Age... What Are the Main Causes? Realmeter analyzed that the overlap of various issues — including the real estate tax reform, controversies over the Criminal Procedure Act amendment, the aftermath of remarks about a military academy coup, extreme heat, and economic anxiety — led to a notable erosion of support, particularly in Seoul, among conservative voters, and among older age groups. In fact, the decline in positive evaluations by region was largest in Seoul (-5.9 percentage points), followed by Daegu·Gyeongbuk (-5.5 percentage points), and Busan·Ulsan·Gyeongnam (-4.8 percentage points), with Seoul showing the most pronounced drop. By age group, the decline was seen among those aged 70 and above (-5.6 percentage points), those in their 60s (-5.3 percentage points), and those in their 20s (-2.5 percentage points).

■ Survey Overview In this poll, the response rate for the president's state affairs performance evaluation was 4.0% (margin of error ±2.0 percentage points), and the response rate for the party approval survey was 3.4% (margin of error ±3.1 percentage points). Detailed survey outlines and results can be found on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.