President Lee's approval rating at 45%, slightly rebounding from the previous week... Seoul down 10 percentage points

[Financial News] A poll released on the 21st showed that President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating for state affairs edged up from the previous survey, which had been the lowest since he took office, and matched his disapproval rating.
In a survey conducted by Gallup Korea Research Institute from Aug. 18 to 20 among 1,004 adults aged 18 and older nationwide, 45% of respondents said they viewed Lee's performance positively.
That was up 1 percentage point from the 44% recorded in the second-week August poll released on the 14th. At the time, the positive rating was the lowest since his inauguration.
The disapproval rating also stood at 45%, matching the approval rating, while 11% said they had no opinion.
The most common reason for a positive assessment was "diplomacy," cited by 19% of respondents. It was followed by "economy and livelihoods" at 11%, and "overall performance" and "communication," each at 7%.
Among negative assessments, "housing policy" ranked first at 28%. "Economy and livelihoods" followed at 12%, and "national defense, security and North Korea" at 7%.
By region, the positive rating in Seoul fell 10 percentage points from the previous week to 32%. The disapproval rating rose 9 percentage points to 56%. Analysts said housing policy and related issues appear to have influenced the result.
However, approval rose in Incheon and Gyeonggi Province from 42% to 45%, in Daejeon, Sejong City and the Chungcheong region from 44% to 48%, and in Busan, Ulsan Metropolitan City and South Gyeongsang Province from 41% to 47%. Jeollanam-do, Gwangju and North Jeolla Province recorded 79%.
Party support stood at 41% for the Democratic Party of Korea and 25% for the People Power Party. Both parties remained unchanged from the previous poll.
The survey was conducted by telephone using random digit dialing with mobile virtual numbers. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, and the response rate was 10.0%. For more details, see the website of the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission.
[email protected] Choi Jong-geun Reporter