▲ President Lee Jae Myung salutes the national flag during a meeting with his senior secretaries at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on March 19, 2026. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

Lee-approval rating

Lee's approval rating hits new high: poll

By Yi Wonju

SEOUL, March 26 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating climbed to 69 percent, marking the highest level since he took office, a survey showed Thursday.

In a National Barometer Survey (NBS) conducted from Monday to Wednesday, the positive assessment of Lee's performance rose 2 percentage points from a poll conducted two weeks earlier.

It marked Lee's highest approval rating in NBS polls since his inauguration.

Negative assessment came to 22 percent, down 2 percentage points from the previous survey.

When asked about the direction of state affairs, 67 percent said the Lee administration was heading in the right direction, while 25 percent said it was moving in the wrong direction.

Support for the ruling Democratic Party (DP) edged up 3 percentage points to 46 percent, while backing for the main opposition People Power Party rose 1 percentage point to 18 percent.

On the upcoming June 3 local elections, 53 percent of respondents said the voters should support the DP for stability, while 34 percent said they should back the opposition to keep the government in check.

In the same survey, 53 percent supported the government's plan to draw up a supplementary budget to better cope with the Middle East crisis, while 34 percent said they opposed the proposal, citing concerns that it could be used for political purposes ahead of the local elections.

The survey was conducted by pollsters Embrain Public, Kstat Research, Korea Research and Hankook Research on 1,002 people aged 18 and older.

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

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