Yoon's approval rating slips to 33.1 pct

SEOUL, Aug. 1 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating slipped to 33.1 percent in the wake of the embarrassing disclosure of a controversial text conversation with the ruling party floor leader, a poll showed Monday.

In the poll of 2,519 voters nationwide conducted by pollster Realmeter between Monday and Friday, 33.1 percent said Yoon was doing well on state affairs, down 0.2 percentage point from the previous week.

Those who gave a negative assessment rose 1.1 percentage points from a week ago to 64.5 percent.

A daily breakdown of the poll showed that Yoon's approval rating fell sharply from 38.3 percent on Tuesday to 28.7 percent on Friday. The pollster said it was its first survey in which Yoon's approval rating fell below 30 percent on a daily basis.

The result came amid leadership turmoil at the ruling People Power Party.

Last week, PPP floor leader Kweon Seong-dong apologized after a text conversation he had with Yoon was caught on camera, in which Yoon was seen backbiting about suspended party chief Lee Jun-seok.

Kweon, who was serving as acting chairman, has offered to resign. The incident also prompted three members of the party's Supreme Council to quit amid speculation the party could switch to an emergency leadership system.

The favorability rating of Yoon's PPP fell 1.3 percentage points from a week earlier to 38.4 percent while that for the main opposition Democratic Party rose 1.4 percentage points to 46 percent.

The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.

mlee@yna.co.kr
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