Seoul: President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating has experienced a minor decline, dropping to 59.3 percent according to a recent survey. This marks the first decrease in his approval rating in three weeks, as reported by Realmeter in a poll commissioned by EKN newspaper.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the poll conducted by Realmeter surveyed 2,507 individuals aged 18 and older, revealing a 1.2 percentage point drop in Lee's job performance assessment from the previous week. The approval rating stood at 59.5 percent in late April, then increased to 59.7 percent and 60.5 percent in the first and second weeks of May, respectively, before falling to the current figure.

The negative assessment of President Lee's performance saw a slight increase, rising by 1 percentage point to 36.1 percent. The survey's margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.

Realmeter observed that President Lee's approval had shown improvement at the start of the week, partially due to his criticism of a controversial Starbucks marketing event and the government's indication of potentially using emergency arbitration powers in response to a possible strike by Samsung Electronics Co.'s labor union. However, the approval rating declined after Samsung reached a tentative wage agreement with its labor union, which could result in record bonus payments for Samsung employees.

In a related survey by Realmeter, support for the ruling Democratic Party increased by 1.7 percentage points to 47.5 percent, while the main opposition People Power Party's support dropped by 0.2 percentage points to 33.3 percent. The rise in support for the ruling party was attributed to respondents from Gwangju and Jeolla provinces, and young voters in their 20s, following the party's strong response to the Starbucks controversy.

The controversy involved a "Tank Day" promotion launched by Starbucks, operated by Shinsegae affiliate E-Mart, on May 18, the anniversary of the 1980 Gwangju democratization movement. The separate poll was conducted on 1,004 individuals aged 18 and over last Thursday and Friday, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points and a confidence level of 95 percent.