Yoon's approval rating falls for 4 weeks straight to 36.5%

President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers a speech during a ceremony held at the Navy's Second Fleet in Pyeongtaek, March 22. Yonhap

President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating fell for a fourth consecutive week to 36.5 percent, while support for his ruling People Power Party (PPP) also slid just about two weeks before the parliamentary elections, surveys showed Monday.

The positive assessment of Yoon's performance declined 2.1 percentage points from the previous week, while the negative assessment advanced 1.7 percentage points to 60.1 percent, according to a survey by Realmeter conducted from Monday to Friday last week.

Yoon's approval rating has taken a downturn after reaching 41.9 percent in the fourth week of February, the pollster said. The survey was commissioned by the Energy Economy News Daily and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

In a separate poll of parties conducted Thursday to Friday last week, the ruling PPP had a support of 37.2 percent, falling behind the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) with 42.8 percent.

The latest ratings mark a 0.8 percentage-point drop for the PPP and a 2 percentage-point jump for the DPK.

Among minor parties, the New Reform Party, led by former PPP leader Lee Jun-seok, took the lead with 3.8 percent.

The share of voters who do not support any political party stood at 5 percent, down 1.1 percentage points.

On proportional representative votes, 29.8 percent said they preferred to vote for the PPP's satellite party, while 20.1 percent chose the DPK's satellite party.

The Korea Innovation Party, created by the disgraced former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, received 27.7 percent of support.

The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. (Yonhap)