President Lee's approval rating falls back to 39%: poll

President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating has dropped to just below 40 percent, according to a recent poll conducted by Gallup Korea. The survey, which polled 1,000 individuals aged 18 and over between Tuesday and Thursday, revealed that Lee's positive assessments fell by 1 percentage point from the previous week to 39 percent. Conversely, negative assessments also decreased by 1 percentage point to 49 percent.

Lee's approval rating had been under 40 percent in Gallup polls since early September, but had briefly risen to 40 percent in the previous survey.

When asked to provide reasons for their assessment, those who positively evaluated Lee's performance pointed to diplomacy as the primary factor (17 percent), followed by economic and livelihood concerns (14 percent), and communication (8 percent). On the other hand, those who disapproved of Lee's performance cited real estate policies (19 percent) and economic issues (17 percent) as the main reasons.

Security concerns and policies on North Korea were mentioned by 10 percent of respondents. Additionally, support for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea fell 2 percentage points to 35 percent, marking the lowest level reported.