President Lee's approval rating falls to 35.9%: poll

President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating dropped to 35.9 percent last week, according to a poll conducted by Realmeter. The decline in popularity appears to be linked to a contentious political dispute over legislation and market fluctuations, a pollster suggested on Monday. The examination of Lee's performance in the poll saw a one-percentage-point drop in positive assessments, while negative evaluations increased by 0.5 percentage points to 60.6 percent.

Additionally, 3.4 percent of respondents expressed uncertainty about their opinion. Realmeter attributed the reduced approval rating to the recent standoff between the ruling and main opposition parties over a bill seeking a special counsel investigation into allegations of fabricated indictments against the president and others.

This bill was passed by the National Assembly on Friday, with the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) leading the effort. The pollster also pointed to last week's sharp decline in the KOSPI stock market index, which fell below 5,000 points, and other financial sector volatility as contributing factors to the lower approval rating.

In contrast, support for the two largest parties stood at 36.5 percent for the DPK and 39.7 percent for the main opposition party.