Seoul: President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating has slightly rebounded after declining for two straight weeks, a survey showed Monday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, a survey commissioned by a local news outlet, 51.4 percent of respondents gave a positive assessment of Lee's handling of state affairs, marking a rise of 0.3 percentage points from the previous week. Alongside this, Lee's negative assessment also saw an increase of 0.4 percentage points, reaching 44.9 percent.
Lee's approval rating had hit its lowest point in the previous poll since he took office in June, driven by controversies surrounding his special pardons for political figures on Liberation Day and proposed tax code revisions on stock investment. Realmeter attributed the rebound in approval to Lee's diplomatic activities, which include preparations for his upcoming summits with U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. However, it also noted the public's continued disappointment over his special pardons.
The survey was conducted on 2,512 adults from Monday to Friday last week, carrying a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points, with a confidence rate of 95 percent. In a separate survey by the same pollster, conducted on 1,004 individuals aged 18 and over on Thursday and Friday, the approval rating for the ruling Democratic Party rose significantly by 5.9 percentage points to 45.8 percent. Meanwhile, support for the main opposition, the People Power Party, fell by 1.2 percentage points to 35.5 percent. This poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, maintaining a confidence rate of 95 percent.