Lee's approval rating inches down to 54.8%: poll
President Lee Jae Myung presides over a meeting of senior presidential secretaries at the presidential office in Yongsan, central Seoul, Nov. 27. Yonhap
President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating edged down to 54.8 percent last week after a brief rebound amid negative public sentiment over recent political developments, a survey showed Monday.
According to the survey by Realmeter commissioned by a local news outlet, the positive assessment of Lee's performance fell 1.1 percentage points from the previous week, while his negative assessment inched up 0.2 percentage points to 40.7 percent.
Lee's approval rating reached 56.7 percent in the first week of November before slipping to 54.5 percent in the second week and rebounding to 55.9 percent in the third week.
Realmeter attributed the decline to the 15-year prison sentence sought for former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and the National Assembly's approval of an arrest motion for Rep. Choo Kyung-ho of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP).
The pollster noted that such political developments were viewed by some as "political retaliation" against the opposition.
Concerns over high interest rates and a record-high won-dollar exchange rate further fueled negative sentiment, it added.
The survey was conducted on 2,538 adults from Monday to Friday last week and had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points, with a confidence rate of 95 percent.
In a separate survey conducted by the same pollster on 1,012 individuals aged 18 and over Thursday and Friday, the approval rating for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea dropped 1.9 percentage points to 45.6 percent.
Support for the PPP rose 2.6 percentage points to 37.4 percent.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, with a confidence rate of 95 percent.