Yoon's approval rating at 37.5 percent ahead of 1st anniversary in office: Yonhap News survey

President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, shakes hands with U.S. President Joe Biden during a joint news conference after their summit at the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 26. [YONHAP]

President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating stands at 37.5 percent ahead of this week's first anniversary of his inauguration, a Yonhap News Agency-Yonhap News TV joint survey showed Tuesday.

The survey also showed the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) would win 32 percent and 30 percent of the vote, respectively, if next year's parliamentary elections were to take place tomorrow.

Seven out of 10 people also said they are worried about South Korea's security, the survey showed, amid a series of North Korean missile launches, and tensions with Russia over Ukraine and with China over the cross-strait issue.

Yonhap News Agency and Yonhap News TV jointly commissioned the survey to gauge public sentiment ahead of Yoon's first anniversary in office, which falls on Wednesday. The survey was conducted Saturday and Sunday by Metrix on 1,000 adults aged 18 or older.

According to the poll, the positive assessment of Yoon's performance was 37.5 percent, while the negative assessment came to 60 percent.

The poll showed 63.4 percent of respondents in their 60s and 57.3 percent living in Daegu and North Gyeongsang gave positive feedback on Yoon's performance.

In contrast, 75.1 and 74.7 percent of respondents in their 30s and 40s, respectively, gave a negative assessment, the poll showed.

Defense and diplomacy were the factors most cited by respondents in giving positive assessments of Yoon's performance, followed by science, health care, culture and the economy, the poll showed.

In contrast, the economy was the factor most cited by respondents in giving negative assessments.

The poll showed 55.5 percent of respondents gave a positive assessment on Yoon's state visit to the United States in late April.

Regarding the direction of South Korea-Japan relations, 55.4 percent of respondents said a sincere apology from Tokyo over colonial-era issues is a priority in mending ties.

In terms of future agenda items for the Yoon administration, 39.1 percent said the government should focus on the economy and job creation.

Meanwhile, 69.5 percent of respondents said they were worried about security due to various issues, such as North Korean provocations, tensions with Russia over the possibility of South Korea providing non-humanitarian aid to Ukraine and tensions with China over the issue of Taiwan.

Only 29.5 percent of respondents said they were not worried about security issues.

Meanwhile, the PPP and the DP would be running neck and neck in a race for next year's parliamentary elections.

Of the respondents, 32.3 percent would pick candidates from the PPP, while 30.2 percent would pick from the DP, the poll showed.

The result was within the margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.

The poll showed 3.8 percent of respondents would pick the minor opposition Justice Party candidates, while 16.7 percent had no preference for candidates.

In detail, 76.1 percent of respondents giving a positive assessment of Yoon's performance said they would vote for PPP candidates. In contrast, 48.6 percent of respondents giving a negative assessment of Yoon's performance said they would pick DP candidates for parliamentary seats.

Yonhap