President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating rose to 61 percent this week, driven by positive views on his diplomacy, a poll showed Friday. The Gallup Korea survey indicated a 3 percentage point increase in positive assessments from the previous week, while negative views fell 2 points to 30 percent. Support for the ruling Democratic Party also climbed 2 points to 43 percent.
SEOUL, Jan. 23 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating climbed to 61 percent, largely due to favorable views of his recent diplomatic efforts, according to a poll released Friday. The Gallup Korea survey, conducted Tuesday through Thursday among 1,000 adults aged 18 and over, showed positive evaluations of his overall performance up 3 percentage points from the previous week. Negative assessments dropped 2 points to 30 percent, with 10 percent undecided.
Diplomacy was the top reason for positive feedback at 27 percent, followed by economy and livelihood policies at 14 percent. Among negatives, 22 percent cited economic concerns. Earlier this month, Lee visited China and Japan, holding summits with President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
A poll released the day before (Jan. 22) showed the rating at 59 percent, down 2 points from two weeks earlier. The National Barometer Survey by Embrain Public, Kstat Research, Korea Research, and Hankook Research, involving 1,001 respondents, had Democratic Party support up 1 point to 40 percent and People Power Party down 3 points to 20 percent. On China ties, 50 percent favored strengthening relations and 41 percent distance; for Japan, 65 percent supported improvement and 31 percent caution.
Both surveys had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. Lee's recent diplomacy appears to have bolstered his support.
