(LEAD) Yoon's approval rating falls below 40 pct for 1st time: poll

All News 16:26 July 08, 2022

(ATTN: ADDS presidential official's comment in last 2 paras)

SEOUL, July 8 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating fell below the 40 percent mark for the first time since he took office in May, a poll showed Friday.

In the poll of 1,000 voters nationwide conducted by Gallup Korea from Tuesday to Thursday, only 37 percent gave a positive assessment of Yoon's performance, down 6 percentage points from the previous week, while 49 percent gave a negative assessment, up 7 percentage points.

Yoon's approval rating went down to the 30 percent level relatively faster than those of former presidents in Gallup polls.

Support for former President Park Geun-hye's leadership first fell below the 40 percent mark in the third week of December 2014, a year and 10 months after she took oath, amid a controversy surrounding an investigation into the leakage of presidential office documents.

Support for former President Moon Jae-in's leadership first went below the threshold in the third week of October 2019, two years and five months after he took office. At the time, Cho Kuk, Moon's close aide, stepped down from his justice minister post over corruption allegations involving his family.

Negative reviews of his performance were higher than positive assessments in most regions and age groups, except for the southeastern Gyeongsang provinces and those in their 60s or above.

On the favorability rating of political parties, Yoon's People Power Party (PPP) received 41 percent of support, up 1 percentage point from the previous poll, while the main opposition Democratic Party registered 30 percent, also up 2 percentage points from the earlier survey.

The poll has a margin of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.

A presidential official said Yoon's office is monitoring the ratings.

"Whether they are going up or down, we always interpret them as the people's wish for us to work harder and we are paying attention to that," the official told reporters. "As the president has said, in terms of going forward with our eyes only on the people, nothing has changed."