President Lee Jae-myung [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae-myung [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae-myung's job approval rating has edged down for a second consecutive week, holding in the low 50s, according to a new poll.

Gallup Korea surveyed 1,003 adults aged 18 and older nationwide from Tuesday through Thursday, finding that 52 percent of respondents gave Lee a positive assessment of his job performance.

The figure is down 1 percentage point from the previous week's survey. Lee's approval rating has now slipped modestly for two straight weeks since a July 3 poll put him at 54 percent.

His disapproval rating rose 2 percentage points from the prior week to 37 percent. Another 11 percent either said neither or declined to answer.

Among those who rated Lee's performance positively, "diplomacy" was the most cited reason at 21 percent, followed by "economy and livelihoods" at 19 percent, "doing well overall" at 8 percent, and "competence and capability" at 7 percent.

Those who gave negative assessments pointed most often to "the economy, livelihoods and the high exchange rate" at 16 percent. "Real estate policy" ranked second among reasons for disapproval at 11 percent, followed by "doing poorly overall" at 7 percent, "ethical concerns and avoiding his own trial" at 5 percent, and "authoritarian or unilateral conduct" at 5 percent.

In party support, the opposition Democratic Party of Korea led the ruling People Power Party by a margin outside the margin of error, at 40 percent versus 26 percent. The Democratic Party fell 2 percentage points from the previous survey while the People Power Party gained 2 points, narrowing the gap slightly.

Among smaller parties, the Rebuilding Korea Party and the Reform Party each recorded 2 percent support, while the Progressive Party stood at 1 percent. Respondents with no party affiliation accounted for 28 percent of the total.

The survey was conducted via computer-assisted telephone interviewing using random samples of virtual mobile numbers provided by the three major wireless carriers. Full methodology and results are available on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.


shee@heraldcorp.com