Lee's approval rating falls for 2nd week to 51.1%: poll

This photo shows a social media post by President Lee Jae Myung, second from right, Aug. 17, as he visits a shop at a traditional market in Seoul's Eunpyeong Ward. Yonhap

President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating fell for a second straight week, a survey showed Monday, amid controversies over his special pardons for political figures and proposed tax code revisions on stock investment.

According to the survey by Realmeter and commissioned by a local news outlet, 51.1 percent gave a positive assessment of Lee's handling of state affairs, down 5.4 percentage points from the previous week, while the negative assessment rose 6.3 percentage points to 44.5 percent.

Realmeter cited the public's disappointment over Lee's special pardon for political figures and businesspeople on Liberation Day as well as confusion over proposed tax code revisions on stock investment as reasons that fueled negative public sentiment.

The survey was conducted on 2,003 adults from Monday to Friday last week and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points, with a confidence rate of 95 percent.

In a separate survey conducted by the same pollster on 1,001 individuals aged 18 and over Thursday and Friday, the approval rating for the ruling Democratic Party plunged 8.5 percentage points to 39.9 percent.

Support for the main opposition People Power Party rose 6.4 percentage points to 36.7 percent.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, with a confidence rate of 95 percent.