Lee Jae-myung's approval rating falls to 38% as 55% of South Koreans oppose sending troops to the Strait of Hormuz
GeopoliticsMacro
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung is facing mounting political pressure after his approval rating fell to a new low amid opposition to sending troops to the Strait of Hormuz, as the government in Seoul weighs options for supporting the security of this strategic shipping route. This comes after U.S. President Donald Trump increased pressure on South Korea to take on a greater role. A Gallup Korea survey conducted September 8-10 among 1,000 people nationwide found that Lee's overall approval rating fell to 38%, down 2 percentage points from the previous week's poll, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. Meanwhile, 55% of respondents opposed sending troops to the Strait of Hormuz, compared with 32% who supported it, and opposition among supporters of the Democratic Party, Lee's ruling party, reached 69%. Last week, South Korean media reported that the Seoul government had begun preparing for the possibility of sending military forces or resources to the Strait of Hormuz after Trump stepped up pressure on its South Korean ally over Seoul's lack of support for the war with Iran. However, the South Korean government said no final decision has been made on deploying forces, and that if South Korea decides to send forces to the area, it would mark a significant shift in stance, after the United States abruptly scaled back joint military exercises between the two countries last month. Trump said at the time that Lee had rejected his request for South Korea to assist the United States in the Iran case, answering, no thank you.
