Seoul: President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating fell for a third consecutive week, a survey showed Monday, amid concerns over stalled trade talks with the United States on South Korea's massive investment pledge.

According to Yonhap News Agency, commissioned by a local news outlet, 52 percent gave a positive assessment of Lee's job performance, down 1 percentage point from the previous week. The negative assessment edged up 0.5 percentage point to 44.1 percent over the same period.

Realmeter said the decline reflected market concerns over the impasse in trade talks between Seoul and Washington, which have yet to be finalized since a framework deal was reached in July, during Lee's visit to New York last week for the U.N. General Assembly. Seoul officials said the US$350 billion investment pledge required safeguards, such as a currency swap, and was intended to finance projects, but U.S. President Donald Trump insisted the investment would be made "upfront."

The survey was conducted on 2,527 adults from Monday to Friday last week and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points, with a confidence rate of 95 percent. In a separate survey conducted by the same pollster on 1,010 individuals aged 18 and over Thursday and Friday, the approval rating for the DP fell 0.9 percentage point to 43.3 percent. Support for the PPP rose 0.3 percentage points to 38.3 percent. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, with a confidence rate of 95 percent.