Lee's approval rating falls for 2nd straight week to 46.3%: Realmeter

President Lee Jae Myung's job approval rating fell for a second consecutive week, dropping into the 40 percent range, according to a poll released Monday.

A Realmeter survey conducted for the Energy Economy Newspaper polled 2,505 adults aged 18 and older nationwide from July 20 to 24. It found that 46.3 percent of respondents gave Lee a positive assessment of his job performance — down 2.1 percentage points from the previous week.

The negative rating rose 1.5 percentage points from the prior week to 49.5 percent, putting the gap between positive and negative assessments at 3.2 percentage points — within the margin of error of plus or minus 2.0 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. Some 4.2 percent of respondents said they were unsure.

Realmeter attributed the sustained weekly decline to a confluence of economic headwinds, including public backlash over real estate policy, disputes over leveraged ETF (exchange-traded fund) regulations and supplementary investigative powers, and a sharp drop in the stock market.

A separate party approval survey of 1,001 eligible voters aged 18 and older, conducted July 23 and 24, showed the Democratic Party of Korea at 41.3 percent and the People Power Party at 40.6 percent — a margin within the poll's error range. The Democratic Party fell 1.8 percentage points from the previous week, while the People Power Party gained 0.6 percentage points. The Rebuilding Korea Party stood at 3.3 percent, the Reform Party at 2.2 percent and the Progressive Party at 1.0 percent, while 9.6 percent of respondents identified with no party.

Both surveys were conducted via automated response on mobile phones. The presidential job approval poll carried a margin of error of plus or minus 2.0 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level, with a response rate of 3.6 percent. The party approval poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level, with a response rate of 4.3 percent. Full methodological details are available on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.