Seoul: President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating fell to 56 percent this week, 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 dropped 6 percentage points from the previous week.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the negative assessment rose by 5 percentage points to 34 percent, while 9 percent said they were undecided. Diplomacy was cited most frequently for positive evaluation, at 28 percent, followed by his leadership in the economy and livelihood issues at 14 percent.

Among the negative responses, 15 percent pointed to concerns over the economy, while 9 percent cited Lee's ethical issues. A former official of the Unification Church has testified to a special counsel team that illicit funds may have been provided from the church to politicians from both ruling and opposition parties.

Although the survey did not directly ask about allegations that politicians from the ruling Democratic Party (DP) received political funds from the Unification Church, Gallup said the ongoing speculation involving the DP may have contributed to a rise in negative assessments. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.