President Yoon's approval rating slips for two weeks straight

President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, takes a selfie with students at an elementary school in Wonju, Gangwon, on Thursday. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s approval rating dropped for two straight weeks, according to the latest poll released by Gallup Korea on Friday.

The poll surveyed 1,001 people aged 18 and older between Tuesday and Thursday.

Some 34 percent of the respondents to the poll approved of Yoon's handling of state affairs. This was down two percentage points from the previous week's rating.

In turn, 58 percent of respondents had a negative evaluation of the president’s performance this week. The figure climbed by one percentage point compared to last week.

Some 27 percent of those who approved of Yoon’s performance cited the “medical enrollment quota hike,” followed by 10 percent “decisiveness” and 9 percent “diplomacy.”

Top reasons for the respondents’ negative ratings included the “economy, livelihood and inflation” at 22 percent, followed by Yoon’s “lack of communication” and “dogmatism,” both at 9 percent.

With less than a month left until the April 10 general election, the liberal Democratic Party (DP) and the conservative People Power Party (PPP) are neck-and-neck in the latest Gallup polls.

Approval ratings for the majority DP held steady at 33 percent, up one percentage point compared to the previous week. The PPP received an approval rating of 34 percent, a drop of 3 percentage points from last week.

Approval ratings for the Korea Innovation Party led by former Justice Minister Cho Kuk rose by one percentage point to 8 percent this week. According to Gallup Korea, one out of three DP supporters said that they would vote for candidates of the Korea Innovation Party for proportional representation seats.

In regards to the upcoming general election, 36 percent said that more PPP candidates should be elected “to support the current government,” while 51 percent said more DP candidates should win to “keep in check the Yoon administration.”

The polls conducted on the third week of March had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at 95 percent confidence and a response rate of 14.3 percent.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]