President Lee's approval rating falls to 42%, the lowest since inauguration; negative rating tops 50% for the first time [Gallup Korea Research Institute]

[Financial News] A survey released on the 28th showed that President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating for state affairs fell to 42%, the lowest since his inauguration. His negative rating reached 50% for the first time since taking office, surpassing his positive rating by 8 percentage points. The most common reason for disapproval was property policy, cited by 27% of respondents.
According to the results released on the 28th by Gallup Korea Research Institute, which surveyed 1,001 adults aged 18 and older nationwide from July 25 to 27, President Lee's job performance approval rating stood at 42%.
That was down 3 percentage points from 45% last week. It also fell 2 points below the previous low of 44% recorded in the second week of August, setting a new post-inauguration low.
By contrast, the share saying he was doing a poor job came to 50%. In Gallup Korea Research Institute's surveys, this is the first time President Lee's negative rating has reached 50% since he took office. Undecided responses accounted for 8%.
Among the reasons for disapproval, property policy ranked first at 27%. It was followed by reducing prosecutorial powers, the economy and livelihoods, and concerns over morality and avoiding his own trial, each at 7%.
For positive ratings, diplomacy was cited most often at 16%. It was followed by the economy and livelihoods at 11%, communication at 10%, and general competence and property policy at 7% each.
Party support stood at 39% for the Democratic Party of Korea and 25% for the People Power Party. The Democratic Party fell 2 points from last week, while the People Power Party was unchanged. The Rebuilding Korea Party (RKP) received 4%, the Reform Party 3%, and the Progressive Party 1%, while 26% were undecided.
The survey was conducted through telephone interviews using randomly sampled mobile virtual numbers. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, with a contact rate of 44.5% and a response rate of 9.5%.

[email protected] Seong Seok-woo Reporter