South Korea president seeks reset after approval rating nosedive

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung addresses the audience during the opening plenary session of the "Lumiere Summit" meeting on the future of cinema and the moving-image industry at the Maeght Foundation in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, southeastern France, on Sept. 7. | REUTERS

Bloomberg

Sep 18, 2026

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will seek to reverse hemorrhaging public support and get his policy agenda back on track at a high-stakes Friday press briefing, even as a barrage of criticism from Donald Trump narrows his room to maneuver.

Lee has seen his approval ratings plunge in the past two months, hitting a record low of 38% last week. That comes as the Trump administration slams Seoul over its purported unwillingness to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz and slow movement on its $350 billion U.S. trade deal.

At home, many South Koreans have soured on Lee over the economy. Even as the global AI build-out reaps record profits for chip giants SK Hynix Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., voters are seeing little impact on their lives, with surveys highlighting growing discontent on issues such as Seoul’s high property prices.

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