By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter

Public support for President Lee Myung-bak fell to 17 percent this week.

According to the latest Hankook Ilbo-Korea Times survey, some 73.9 percent answered that the President is not running the country well, while only 17 percent said he was doing well.

More than half, exactly, 52.2 percent of 1,000 adults aged 19 or older replied the beef import accord is President Lee's biggest policy mistake.

About 55.5 percent want immediate renegotiations with the United States on the deal, while 73.2 percent oppose Lee's canal project.

The second biggest mistake was Lee's lack of communication with the opposition parties and general public, which is regarded as one of the reasons behind the severe protests against the deal, the survey showed.

Lee's third mistake was his push for a cross-country canal project despite the majority of people asked being against it.

His fourth problem was the appointment of under-qualified figures with dubious wealth to Cabinet minister and secretarial positions.

The President received a high score for his business-friendly policies, his plans to downsize government organizations and privatize state run enterprises as well as his efforts to strengthen the country's alliance with the United States.

However, 33.2 percent of respondents said Lee has done nothing well, while 20.2 percent said they could not think of anything he had done well or refused to give an answer.

About 30 percent said their preference for Lee had not changed, while only 4.3 percent said they now liked him more.

The poll conducted June 6-7 has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.1 percentage points.

ksy@koreatimes.co.kr