President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating slips to 64%: Gallup Korea poll

SEOUL, May 1 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating slipped 3 percentage points to 64 percent this week, with concerns over "excessive" welfare policies cited as a key factor for the decline, a poll showed Friday. The survey, conducted by Gallup Korea from Tuesday through Thursday on 1,002 people aged 18 and older, found 64 percent rated Lee's performance positively. Diplomacy and economic policy tied as the leading reasons for the positive assessments, each at 17 percent. Negative assessments rose 1 percentage point to 26 percent, while 10 percent offered no opinion. Among those who rated his performance negatively, "excessive welfare and subsidies" was the most commonly cited reason at 15 percent, followed by economic difficulties, livelihood concerns and high foreign exchange rates at 13 percent. Gallup attributed part of the decline in Lee's approval rating to the government's welfare policy and distribution of fuel subsidies to offset rising gasoline prices linked to the Middle East crisis, which some critics argue could hurt fiscal health. The president's approval rating exceeded 50 percent in all major cities and provinces, with support highest in Gwangju and Jeolla Province at 89 percent, followed by Incheon and Gyeonggi Province at 66 percent and Seoul at 63 percent. Meanwhile, the approval rating for the ruling Democratic Party slipped to 46 percent from the previous week's 48 percent, while support for the main opposition People Power Party gained 1 percentage point to 21 percent. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.