SEOUL: President Yoon Suk Yeol’s approval rating slid to 19 percent, marking its lowest level since he took office in May 2022, a poll showed Friday. The survey, conducted by the polling agency Gallup Korea, showed that the positive assessment of Yoon’s performance fell 1 percentage point from the previous week, while his negative assessment reached an all-time high of 72 percent, up 2 percent from a week earlier.

According to Yonhap News Agency, this marks the first time Yoon’s approval ratings fell below the 20 percent mark in Gallup surveys. Yoon’s handling of allegations surrounding first lady Kim Keon Hee, the economy, and a lack of communication were cited as reasons for the negative assessment. The first lady has been accused of alleged involvement in a stock manipulation scheme, the receipt of a luxury bag, and alleged interference in the candidate nominations of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) ahead of the April general elections.

The polling agency said the release of an audio recording earlie
r this week reportedly between Yoon and Myung Tae-kyun, a self-proclaimed political broker, will likely be reflected in upcoming surveys. On Thursday, the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) played a recording of what it said was a phone call in which Yoon told Myung that he had recommended the ruling party nominate now former lawmaker Kim Young-sun to run in the by-election in the Changwon and Uichang district of South Gyeongsang Province.

The recording marks the latest revelation in a growing scandal centering on allegations that Yoon and the first lady conferred with Myung to interfere with the ruling party’s candidate nominations ahead of multiple elections. In the same survey, the approval ratings of the PPP and the DP both came to 32 percent. The poll was conducted on 1,005 adults from Tuesday to Thursday and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.