Lee's approval rating dips to record low of 38%: poll

President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating has fallen to its lowest level since he took office, a poll showed Friday, amid growing criticism over his recent Cabinet reshuffle.

In a Gallup Korea survey of 1,000 people aged 18 and older conducted from Tuesday through Thursday, 38 percent positively assessed Lee's handling of state affairs, down 2 percentage points from the previous week, while 51 percent gave a negative assessment.

The approval rating marked the lowest level in a Gallup poll since Lee took office in June last year.

Among those who negatively assessed Lee's performance, 24 percent cited his real estate policies, followed by personnel appointments at 16 percent and economic and livelihood issues at 10 percent.

The pollster said the increase in respondents citing personnel appointments appears to reflect the controversy surrounding Lee's Cabinet picks ahead of their confirmation hearings.

On Lee's nomination of Rep. Kim Seung-won as justice minister, 43 percent said the nominee was unfit to serve the post, compared with 22 percent who considered him fit for the job.

For Rep. Yong Hye-in of the minor Basic Income Party, who has been tapped as the new minister of gender equality, 61 percent gave a negative response, while 13 percent said she was fit for the position.

Kim has faced allegations that he illegally lobbied authorities over the approval of a COVID-19 treatment in 2021, while Yong has come under fire over her decision to retain her proportional representation seat in the National Assembly following her appointment, along with alleged nepotism and the way she has run her one-lawmaker party solely on government funding.

Support for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea remained unchanged from the previous week at 38 percent, while that of the main opposition People Power Party fell 1 percentage point to 29 percent.

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