S Korean President's disapproval rating again exceeds approval rating

More South Koreans disapprove of the way President Yoon Suk-yeol handles state affairs for the third straight week, with the gap between his disapproval and approval ratings widening outside the margin of error, a survey showed Wednesday.

The Rnsearch poll of 1,028 voters conducted from Saturday to Monday showed 42.6 per cent of respondents approved of the way Yoon handled state affairs while 53 per cent gave a negative assessment of his performance, Yonhap news agency reported.

It marked the third week in which Yoon's disapproval rating was higher than his approval rating and the first time the gap between the two widened beyond a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 per cent confidence level.

Those who approved of Yoon's handling of state affairs came in at 47.6 per cent two weeks earlier and 45.3 per cent a week ago. Those who gave a negative assessment reached 49.8 per cent last week, up from 47.9 per cent two weeks ago.

By age, more than 60 percent of respondents in their 20s and 40s gave a negative assessment of Yoon's performance. Some 61.3 per cent of respondents in their 20s gave a negative evaluation, up from 53.4 per cent a week ago, the poll showed.

Only those in their 60s or older were more likely to give a positive assessment of Yoon. Some 55.8 per cent of the respondents said Yoon handled state affairs well compared to a negative assessment of 37.2 per cent.

The survey follows a controversy surrounding the appointment of some minister nominees as well as growing concerns over the economy.

Yoon has said his "only desire is to think solely about the people and work hard."

"Even during the campaign, I didn't pay much attention to approval ratings. It doesn't mean much," he said. "My work is for the people, and my only desire is to think solely about the people and work hard."

--IANS

int/shs