Seoul, Oct 9 (IANS) South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s approval rating held steady at 37 per cent this week, with disapproval falling to 51 per cent, a poll showed Friday.
Positive assessment of Lee’s performance remained unchanged from the last poll conducted three weeks earlier, according to the Gallup Korea survey conducted from Tuesday through Thursday on 1,000 people aged 18 and older.
Lee’s disapproval rating fell 5 percentage points from 56 per cent in the previous poll, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Among those who positively assessed Lee’s performance, 24 per cent cited foreign affairs, followed by economic and livelihood issues at 14 per cent.
Among those who negatively assessed his performance, 18 per cent cited his real estate policies, followed by defence, security and North Korea policy at 15 per cent.
Support for the ruling Democratic Party fell 5 percentage points from the previous survey to 35 per cent, marking the lowest since the launch of Lee’s administration in June last year.
Support for the main opposition People Power Party fell 1 percentage point to 26 per cent.
The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 per cent confidence level.
On October 4, President Lee Jae Myung called for breaking off from “a vicious cycle of hostility and confrontation to create a virtuous cycle of peace and prosperity,” in a speech marking the anniversary of a declaration aimed at improving inter-Korean relations.
“The journey to resolve the Korean Peninsula issue and establish peace will not be easy. But it is clear that is the road we have to walk,” Lee said in remarks read out by Vice Unification Minister Kim Nam-jung.
His remarks came on the 19th anniversary of the October 4 Inter-Korean Declaration signed by late former President Roh Moo-hyun and late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, the father of current North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, in 2007.
The president called the declaration a “historic agreement” on transitioning inter-Korean relations to one of mutual trust and moving forward together toward a permanent peace system.
“Unfortunately, as the promise for peace and prosperity was not fulfilled, hostility and confrontation filled that space,” he said.
Lee urged for the upholding of Roh’s determination for peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and returning to the spirit of the October 4 declaration.
–IANS
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