▲ President Lee Jae Myung salutes the national flag during a meeting with senior aides at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Jan. 22, 2026. (Yonhap)

Lee-approval rating

Lee's approval rating rises to 61 pct: poll

SEOUL, Jan. 23 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating rose to 61 percent this week, led by positive assessments of his diplomacy, a poll showed Friday.

The survey by Gallup Korea, conducted Tuesday through Thursday on 1,000 respondents aged 18 and over, showed that the positive assessment of Lee's overall performance gained 3 percentage points from the previous week.

The negative assessment fell by 2 percentage points to 30 percent, while 10 percent said they were undecided.

Diplomacy was cited most frequently as the reason for positive evaluation, at 27 percent, followed by his policies on the economy and livelihood issues at 14 percent. Among the negative responses, 22 percent pointed to concerns over the economy.

Earlier this month, Lee made separate trips to China and Japan, and held summit talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

The approval rating for the ruling Democratic Party rose by 2 percentage points to 43 percent, while that of the main opposition People Power Party shed 2 percentage points to 22 percent.

The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.

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