Lee's approval rating holds at 37% as decline stalls

President Lee Jae Myung's job approval rating stood at 37 percent, matching the figure recorded three weeks ago in the previous survey covering the third week of September.

According to a Gallup Korea poll released Friday, conducted Tuesday through Thursday among 1,000 registered voters aged 18 and older nationwide, 37 percent of respondents said Lee is performing his presidential duties well — a sign that the sustained slide in his approval rating before chuseok has at least temporarily stopped.

Positive assessments were concentrated among Democratic Party of Korea supporters (73 percent) and those who identify as progressive (65 percent).

Negative assessments were most common among People Power Party supporters (92 percent) and conservatives (77 percent). Disapproval also outweighed approval among moderates (37 percent positive vs. 53 percent negative) and those with no party affiliation (22 percent vs. 54 percent).

Breaking down results by gender and age, respondents in their 50s leaned positive (55 percent vs. 38 percent), while women (41 percent vs. 45 percent) and those in their 40s (44 percent vs. 48 percent) were nearly evenly split. Men (32 percent vs. 58 percent) and all other age groups returned more negative than positive assessments.

The disapproval rating fell 5 percentage points from the previous survey to 51 percent. Twelve percent of respondents withheld judgment.

Among those who rated Lee's performance positively, diplomacy was cited most often (24 percent), followed by the economy and livelihoods (14 percent) and a general sense that he is doing well (7 percent).

Among those who rated him negatively, real estate policy topped the list (18 percent), followed by national defense, security and North Korea policy (15 percent). Reducing prosecutorial authority and abolishing the Prosecution Service came next (8 percent), followed by a general sense that he is performing poorly and concerns about the economy and livelihoods (7 percent each).

In party support, the Democratic Party of Korea polled at 35 percent and the People Power Party at 26 percent.

The Democratic Party fell 5 percentage points from the previous survey, hitting its lowest support level since the current government took office, according to Gallup Korea's tracking. The People Power Party also slipped 1 percentage point from the prior week.

The Rebuilding Korea Party stood at 3 percent, the Reform Party at 2 percent and the Progressive Party at 1 percent. Those with no party affiliation accounted for 31 percent.

The survey was conducted via telephone interviews using randomly selected virtual mobile numbers. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. The contact rate was 42.3 percent and the response rate was 9.7 percent. Further details are available on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.