SEOUL– President Yoon Suk-yeol’s approval rating rose to 36 percent, a poll showed Friday, breaking through the mid-30 percent range for the first time in five months.
Positive assessment of Yoon’s performance added 3 percentage points from the previous week, rising for a fourth consecutive week, while negative assessment fell 3 percentage points to 56 percent in the same period.
The poll was conducted on 1,001 people aged 18 or older between Tuesday and Thursday by Gallup Korea.
It marked the first time in five months that Yoon’s approval rating exceeded the mid-30 percent range. After hitting 37 percent in the first week of July, the figure dipped to 24 percent twice in August and September and came in at an average of 29 percent in October and November.
Yoon’s insistence on principles and the rule of law, demonstrated during his response to a recent truckers’ walkout, appeared to have contributed to the on-week rise.
Among those who gave positive assessments, 20 percent said they approved of his response to labor unions, while 16 percent mentioned values like fairness, justice and principles.
In contrast, 12 percent and 8 percent of those who gave negative assessments respectively picked Yoon’s dogmatic attitude and lack of communication as factors they disapproved.
“Yoon recently appeared to be at odds with the opposition over his stern response to labor unions and his plan to scrap the Moon Jae-in administration’s health care plan and 52-hour workweek,” the pollster said in a statement. “This rigid policy stance seems to have appeared as pursuing principles to those who gave positive assessments and as being dogmatic to those who gave negative assessments.”
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.
Source: Yonhap News Agency