Forty-six percent of South Koreans said prosecutors' request for an arrest warrant against the main opposition leader was part of due procedures for investigation into his corruption allegations, a poll showed Friday.
In a poll conducted by Gallup on 1,001 people aged 18 or older from Tuesday to Thursday, 46 percent of the respondents were supportive of an arrest warrant requested against the Democratic Party (DP) chairman, Lee Jae-myung.
The poll showed 37 percent opposed the move, saying it was "unjust political oppression" against Lee.
The survey came after the opposition-controlled National Assembly passed a motion to seek parliamentary consent to the potential arrest of Lee in a 149-136 vote Thursday, a move seen as dealing a blow to his leadership in the DP.
Prosecutors on Monday requested an arrest warrant for Lee on breach of trust, bribery and other charges related to a scandal-ridden land development scandal, and allegations of his involvement in a company's illegal cash remittance to North Korea. A court hearing to review his arrest warrant will be held Tuesday.
Lee has claimed that parliamentary consent to the potential arrest warrant against him will "give wings to political prosecutors seeking a manipulated investigation." He has been hospitalized due to deteriorating health from a weekslong hunger strike against government policies.
Meanwhile, President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating slightly rose due mainly to positive appraisal of his diplomatic activities, the poll showed.
Positive assessment of Yoon's performance rose by 1 percentage point to 32 percent, while negative evaluation of him slid by the same margin to 59 percent.
Friday's poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.
Source: Yonhap News Agency