Moon's approval rating falls to 46.3%

President Moon Jae-in's approval rating fell for the second straight week last week with the breakdown of the United States-North Korea summit and worsening fine dust air pollution, a poll showed Monday.

Moon's support came to 46.3 percent last week, down 3.1 percentage points from the previous week, according to a poll by Realmeter on 2,518 people across the country. The survey was conducted between Monday and Friday.

The pollster said the fall is apparently attributable to the recent fruitless summit between the leaders of the U.S. and North Korea, nagging concerns about the economy and fine dust air pollution.

U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ended their second summit on Feb. 27-28 in Hanoi without any agreement.

Since then, increased activity has been detected at North Korea's long-range missile launch site and its missile assembly facility, spawning speculation that Pyongyang may be preparing to launch a missile or a satellite-carrying rocket.

South Korea has been chocked by the dense fine dust level in recent days, drawing a public outcry over the government's lack of measures to tackle serious health risks.

The support rating for the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) rebounded to the 30 percent mark for the first time since a corruption scandal by former President Park Geun-hye rattled the nation in late 2016.

The rating came in at 30.4 percent last week, up 1.6 percentage points from the previous week, the poll showed.

The rise apparently reflects an expectation for the LKP's new leadership led by chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn and public disappointment at the government's economic policy, the pollster added.

The reading for the ruling Democratic Party fell 1.1 percentage points on-week to 37.2 percent.

The poll, commissioned by local news network YTN, had a margin of error of 2 percentage points and a 95 percent confidence level. (Yonhap)