Approval ratings of Moon, ruling party climb for 2nd consecutive week: poll

President Moon Jae-in and the ruling Democratic Party (DP) both saw their approval ratings climb for the second straight week, according to a new poll released Monday.

In the survey conducted by Realmeter on 2,519 people over the age of 18 from July 12-16, Moon's job approval rating was recorded at 45.5 percent, up 4.4 percentage points from the previous week.

The result marked Moon's highest performance in public polls since the 45.6 percent figure in the third week of October last year, according to Realmeter.

Moon saw his approval rise especially among voters in the region encompassing Daejeon, Sejong and the Chungcheong provinces, up 6.3 percentage points, and in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, up 5.8 percentage points.

Realmeter cited Cheong Wa Dae's conspicuous distancing from politics while focusing on economic and virus-related issues as key factors in the rise of Moon's job approval.

The DP's rating also rose 3.8 percentage points to 36.7 percent, setting a new high since the first week of September 2020. The main opposition People Power Party fell 2.2 percentage points to 34.9 percent.

The ruling party's approval rating surpassed that of the main opposition for the first time in 20 weeks, albeit with the numbers standing within the poll's margin of error.

Realmeter attributed the recent controversy surrounding PPP Chairman Lee Jun-seok's backtracking from an agreement with the DP over the government's virus relief handouts as a factor in the main opposition's approval drop.

The poll commissioned by cable news network YTN has a 95 percent confidence level, with a margin of error at plus or minus 2 percentage points. (Yonhap)