On April 12 voters in Hungary defeated autocratic Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party by a landslide. The MAGA-friendly leader had received high-profile support from US President Donald Trump who sent his vice president, JD Vance, to campaign for him. After 16 years of Orban, voters wanted change in the hope of reviving a stagnant economy and ending government corruption. European leaders, meanwhile, welcomed Orban’s defeat because of his pro-Russian leanings.
Orban’s defeat puts Hungary on the path to rebuild its democratic institutions and improve its relationship with its EU neighbors. The scale of the defeat points to questions for other unpopular leaders and their parties, populist or otherwise, who will face elections by the end of the decade.
According to a recent poll of leaders in 24 countries conducted by Morning Consult in early April 2026, 16 have negative approval ratings while only eight have positive approval ratings, and only five exceed 50 percent. Leaders of the three largest economies in Europe — Germany, the UK, and France — have the highest negative ratings on the list with more than 65 percent expressing disapproval. Such high disapproval ratings suggest that the next round of elections will bring major changes in direction. Donald Trump ranks 15th, with an approval rating of 38 percent.
Among the leaders with positive approval ratings, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds the top spot followed by President Lee Jae Myung at 63 percent approval. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi remains popular at 53 percent approval, as does Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney with 54 percent. Takaichi, a conservative nationalist, won a resounding victory in elections earlier this year by promising to stand up to China and address economic concerns. Similarly, the center-left Carney has built his popularity on standing up to Donald Trump.
What explains Lee Jae Myung’s popularity? Unlike Takaichi or Carney, he has not drawn on nationalist impulses to stand up to a foreign bully. Instead, Lee has taken a different, more substantive route that offers a model for other leaders to follow.
To be sure, Lee took office amid the worst political crisis in South Korea since democratization in 1987. Yoon Suk Yeol, the disgraced former president, was impeached and removed for attempting to subvert democracy by imposing martial law. Voters turned to Lee in a time of crisis, giving him a reservoir of goodwill from the outset. Lee won a solid victory but failed to get more than 50 percent of the vote, suggesting that the goodwill was cautious.
Instead of coasting on his goodwill once in office, Lee focused on the future, which is what good politics is all about. His immediate challenge was dealing with Trump’s tariffs and trade pressure. He focused on reducing areas of tension while keeping his eye on the US market and the strategic alliance with the US. He applied the same proactive, positive approach to dealing with China and Japan. Only nine months into office, Lee has positioned South Korea as a country the US, China, and Japan all want to engage with positively.
Domestically, President Lee has taken the initiative to rein in burgeoning home prices. Ever since the boom years of the 1970s, real estate has been a tool for investment in South Korea, much as stock markets do in other countries. The result has been a sustained construction boom that raised the quality of housing dramatically in a short time but with ever rising prices.
To address affordability, Lee has focused on separating residential housing for owner occupants from real estate as an investment tool. At the same time, he has focused on promoting financial markets as tools for investment, which has resulted in a sharp rise in the Korean stock market since the end of 2025. Lee’s focus on real estate has been popular with younger generations that had all but given up hope of ever owning a home.
Lee Jae Myung compares favorably with previous post-1987 presidents. After nine months in office, only Kim Young-sam and Moon Jae-in had higher approval ratings. Moon Jae-in was the only president to leave office with an approval rating over 40 percent. So far, he is also the first president since Kim Dae-jung (1998–2003) to avoid prosecution after leaving office.
History has not been kind to South Korean presidents, but nor does history repeat itself as the cliche goes. It may echo, but as Moon Jae-in has shown, a president can dispel the echo. President Lee’s positive outlook and focus on the future offer hope for success.