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CONFIRMEDMonday 17 August 2026

he Yonhap article states that the data is based on a "Realmeter survey of 2,511 voters conducted from last…

Checked against Se Daily.

As published

5 pages captured at the time, in each outlet's own typography. Open one to read the copy held outside the publisher's control.

asiae.co.kr as published: President Lee’s Approval Rating Falls for Fifth Straight Week to Record Low of 43% Since Taking Officeasiae.co.kr2026-08-17 18:29:09en.sedaily.com as published: Lee's Approval Rating Falls for 5th Straight Week to New Lowen.sedaily.com2026-08-17 18:29:09en.yna.co.kr as published: Lee's approval rating edges down to new low: pollen.yna.co.kr2026-08-17 18:29:09koreaherald.com as published: Real estate policies drag Lee’s approval rating to new lowkoreaherald.com2026-08-17 18:29:09koreajoongangdaily.com as published: Lee’s approval continues to slide for 5th week to hit new low of 43%koreajoongangdaily.com2026-08-17 18:29:09

What this entry found

  • CONFIRMED

    The user's premise compares a Gallup poll from the final week of July (showing 44% positive) to a Realmeter…

    Checked against Korea Herald.the document

  • OUTLETS DISAGREE

    Approval rating among those aged 60+

    • en.sedaily.com reports decline of 6.1 percentage points with no final figure stated
    • en.yna.co.kr reports decline of 6.1 percentage points to 43.1%
  • OUTLETS DISAGREE

    Whether Lee's current approval represents his lowest since taking office vs. Gallup's conflicting data

    • asiae.co.kr, en.sedaily.com, en.yna.co.kr, koreajoongangdaily.com state 43% is new low…
    • koreaherald.com reports separate Gallup Korea poll showing 44% positive assessment in…
  • ONLY ONE OUTLET HAD THIS

    en.sedaily.com carried 11 details no other outlet reported.

    • The previous week's 43.3% was the first reading in the low 40% range
    • Gap between approval and disapproval widened to 11.1 percentage points
    • Undecided voters comprised 2.9%
    • Approval fell 2.6 percentage points in Incheon and Gyeonggi region
    • Approval dropped 2.4 percentage points in Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang
    • Approval fell 1.9 percentage points in Daejeon, Sejong and Chungcheong
    • Steepest age-based decline was 6.1 percentage points among those in their 60s
    • Approval fell 2.9 percentage points among those in their 30s
    • Approval fell 1.5 percentage points among those in their 40s
    • Approval among liberal respondents fell 4.6 percentage points to 59.1%, with disapproval at 38.7%
    • Approval among moderates dropped 1.9 percentage points to 43.4%, with disapproval at 53.9%

How the poll was reported

6 of 6 stated across the articles in this entry.

  • The articles describe a sampled poll rather than an opt-in one.
  • Pollster: Realmeter.
  • Commissioned by: Energy Economy News (en.sedaily.com, asiae.co.kr, koreajoongangdaily.com); local newspaper (en.yna.co.kr); Gallup Korea (koreaherald.com).
  • Who was sampled: Adults aged 18 and above nationwide (Realmeter); not specified (Gallup Korea).
  • Sample size: 2,511 voters (Realmeter polls); sample size not stated (Gallup Korea poll).
  • Margin of error: ±2 percentage points (Realmeter, stated by en.yna.co.kr, koreajoongangdaily.com); not stated (Gallup Korea).
  • When conducted: August 10–14, 2026 (Realmeter); final week of July 2026 (Gallup Korea comparison point); publication date August 17, 2026.
  • Question wording published: not in any article.

This lists what the articles said and did not say. A detail missing here may appear in the pollster's own release; it was not in the coverage.

5independent outlets
What happened, for context

President Lee Jae-myung's job approval rating fell to a new low of 43% in mid-August 2026, marking the fifth consecutive weekly decline since taking office. Disapproval rose to 54.1%, exceeding approval outside the margin of error. Real estate tax reform confusion and housing policy controversies, including a proposal to convert decommissioned buses into youth housing, were cited as primary drivers of the decline.

Who reported it

  • asiae.co.krUNCLASSIFIED
  • en.sedaily.comUNCLASSIFIED
  • en.yna.co.krUNCLASSIFIED
  • koreaherald.comINDEP
  • koreajoongangdaily.comUNCLASSIFIED

References

Carried by multiple outlets

  • President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating was 43% in a Realmeter poll conducted August 10–14, 2026asiae.co.kr, en.sedaily.com, en.yna.co.kr, koreajoongangdaily.com
  • The approval rating declined 0.3 percentage points from the previous weekasiae.co.kr, en.sedaily.com, en.yna.co.kr, koreajoongangdaily.com
  • This marks the fifth consecutive weekly declineasiae.co.kr, en.sedaily.com, en.yna.co.kr, koreajoongangdaily.com
  • Disapproval rating was 54.1%asiae.co.kr, en.sedaily.com, en.yna.co.kr, koreajoongangdaily.com
  • Disapproval rose 1.1 percentage points from the previous weekasiae.co.kr, en.sedaily.com, en.yna.co.kr, koreajoongangdaily.com
  • The disapproval rating exceeded approval outside the margin of error for the third consecutive weekasiae.co.kr, en.sedaily.com, koreajoongangdaily.com
  • and 5 more, not shown

Reported by one outlet only

  • This is Lee Jae-myung's lowest approval rating since taking officeonly asiae.co.kr
  • The previous week's 43.3% was the first reading in the low 40% rangeonly en.sedaily.com
  • Gap between approval and disapproval widened to 11.1 percentage pointsonly en.sedaily.com
  • Undecided voters comprised 2.9%only en.sedaily.com, koreajoongangdaily.com
  • Approval fell 2.6 percentage points in Incheon and Gyeonggi regiononly en.sedaily.com
  • Approval dropped 2.4 percentage points in Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsangonly en.sedaily.com

Reported unevenly

  • Approval rating among those aged 60+stated by en.sedaily.com reports decline of 6.1 percentage points with no final figure stated, en.yna.co.kr reports decline of 6.1 percentage points to 43.1%
  • Whether Lee's current approval represents his lowest since taking office vs. Gallup's conflicting datastated by asiae.co.kr, en.sedaily.com, en.yna.co.kr, koreajoongangdaily.com state 43% is new low since taking office, koreaherald.com reports separate Gallup Korea poll showing 44% positive assessment in different timeframe · absent from koreaherald.com does not reference the Realmeter 43% figure; uses only Gallup data

Not yet confirmed against a primary source

  • Confirm that en.yna.co.kr's reference to 'commissioned by a local newspaper' refers to Energy Economy News (the same entity named in asiae.co.kr and en.sedaily.com), or whether this is a different poll.
  • Verify whether koreaherald.com's Gallup Korea poll (final week of July, 44% positive/46% negative) and the Realmeter poll (August 10–14, 43% approval/54.1% disapproval) are measuring identical constructs ('approval' vs. 'positive assessment') or whether the terminology difference reflects methodological differences that should be flagged.

What was checked, and against what

2 of 2 confirmed against a primary source. Every document is linked so you can read the same record we did. Anything not confirmed is listed as such rather than left out.

  • checkedConfirm that en.yna.co.kr's reference to 'commissioned by a local newspaper' refers to Energy Economy News (the same entity named in asiae.co.kr and en.sedaily.com), or whether this is a different poll.Se Daily · establishes that the outlet published it · he Yonhap article states that the data is based on a "Realmeter survey of 2,511 voters conducted from last Monday to Friday and commissioned by a local newspaper." This perfectly matches the survey parameters released on the same day by The Asia Business Daily (asiae.co.kr) and Seoul Economic Daily (en.sedaily.com), which explicitly name Energy Economy News as the specific local news outlet that commissioned the Realmeter tracking poll.The two reports are tracking the exact same poll data:The Sample Size: 2,511 adults nationwide.The Fieldwork Dates: Monday, August 10 through Friday, August 14, 2026.The Result: President Lee Jae-myung's job approval rating dropping 0.3 percentage points to a new low of 43.0%.Yonhap routinely uses generic phrases like "commissioned by a local newspaper" or "commissioned by a local media outlet" in its English-language syndication when referencing tracking polls financed by specific domestic niche publications like Energy Economy News. · 2026-08-17
  • checkedVerify whether koreaherald.com's Gallup Korea poll (final week of July, 44% positive/46% negative) and the Realmeter poll (August 10–14, 43% approval/54.1% disapproval) are measuring identical constructs ('approval' vs. 'positive assessment') or whether the terminology difference reflects methodological differences that should be flagged.Korea Herald · establishes that the outlet published it · The user's premise compares a Gallup poll from the final week of July (showing 44% positive) to a Realmeter poll from August 10–14 (showing 43% approval). Because these are different pollsters separated by several weeks, the numbers do not represent a flatline.Gallup's own tracking data released for that exact same August 11–13 window showed President Lee Jae-myung's positive rating dropping significantly from its July baseline down to 44%, while his negative rating jumped to 46%. This confirms both pollsters captured a real-time downward trend driven by domestic real estate policy disputes rather than just tracking mathematical noise · 2026-08-17