President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating edged down to 48.4 percent this week, according to a new poll by Realmeter.
In the Realmeter poll commissioned by EKN newspaper, positive assessments of Lee's job performance fell 0.5 percentage points from the previous week to 48.4 percent. The disapproval rating rose 0.3 percentage points to 48 percent.
The rating had climbed from 46.5 percent in the last week of June to 47 percent and then 48.9 percent in the first two weeks of July. The survey of 2,007 adults was conducted from Monday to Thursday.
Realmeter attributed the decline to the central bank's policy rate hike, a sharp stock market drop, and tensions in the ruling party over stripping the prosecution of supplementary investigation powers. In a separate poll, support for the Democratic Party of Korea stood at 43.1 percent while the People Power Party reached 40 percent.
