President Lee Jae Myung's Approval Rating Falls Below 60% Amid Election Controversy

SEOUL, June 12 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating fell below 60 percent for the first time in four months amid negative public sentiment over ballot shortages reported during last week's local elections, a poll showed Friday. The survey, conducted by Gallup Korea from Tuesday through Thursday on 1,002 people aged 18 and older, showed the positive assessment of Lee's job performance declined 7 percentage points from the previous poll conducted in the third week of May to 57 percent. It marked the first time his approval rating fell below 60 percent in Gallup polls since early February. The negative assessment rose 7 percentage points to 35 percent, while 8 percent were undecided. Among the negative responses, allegations of election irregularities involving the National Election Commission were cited most frequently at 16 percent, followed by concerns over the economy at 14 percent and real estate policies at 9 percent. Support for the ruling Democratic Party (DP) fell 4 percentage points to 41 percent from the previous survey, while that of the main opposition People Power Party climbed 7 percentage points to 29 percent. The pollster said the DP failed to meet the expectations of its supporters as it suffered defeats in key battlegrounds, including the Seoul mayoral race, despite winning 12 of the 16 key metropolitan mayoral and gubernatorial races in the June 3 elections. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.