SEOUL-- The ruling People Power Party (PPP) posted a solid gain in its approval rating after President Yoon Suk-yeol was inaugurated, a poll showed Friday.

The PPP's rating rose to 45 percent this week, up 5 percentage points from a week earlier, according to the Gallup Korea survey of 1,000 adults, conducted from Tuesday to Thursday.

It was the highest rating for the conservative party, which had changed names several times to distance itself from past wrongdoings or forge an alliance, since November 2014, the pollster said.

On the contrary, the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) saw its approval rating drop 10 percentage points from a week earlier to 31 percent this week.

Rep. Park Wan-joo, a three-term lawmaker of the DP, was expelled from the party over a sexual misconduct case this week. Park's case may have partly affected the DP's approval rating, political observers said.

According to the survey, 52 percent of the respondents said Yoon is "doing well" after he assumed office, while 37 percent said he is "not doing well."

The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.

Source: Yonhap News Agency