[Anchor]
Public opinion polls show that President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating has fallen for the eighth consecutive week, dropping to 37.4 percent. This marks the lowest figure since taking office. Controversies surrounding the cabinet nominations of Minister of Gender Equality and Family candidate Yong Hye-in and Minister of Justice candidate Kim Seung-won were cited as negative factors, while differing perspectives are being detected within the ruling bloc regarding the two candidates.
Reporter Kang Cheongwan has the details.
[Reporter]
According to a poll conducted by Realmeter on 2,510 adults aged 18 and older nationwide from August 31 to September 4, positive evaluations of President Lee Jae-myung's state affairs performance stood at 37.4 percent, while negative evaluations reached 59.5 percent.
The positive evaluation, or approval rating, fell by an additional 1.5 percentage points compared to the previous week when it entered the 30 percent range for the first time in a Realmeter survey, marking eight straight weeks of decline and setting a new record low since taking office.
Realmeter analyzed that "negative public opinion regarding personnel and policy credibility spread as controversies overlapped, including nomination disputes surrounding cabinet candidates over allegations of preferential treatment and cancellation of indictments, as well as the controversy over the U-turn on real estate tax reform plans."
Regarding the controversies surrounding Minister of Gender Equality and Family candidate Yong Hye-in and Minister of Justice candidate Kim Seung-won, the presidential office reaffirmed its stance to wait and see until the National Assembly's confirmation hearings.
A high-ranking presidential official stated, "There is no change in our principled position of watching the process as candidates well answer questions from the public and the media."
However, subtle temperature differences are being detected within the ruling bloc regarding the level of response to the two candidates, Yong Hye-in and Kim Seung-won.
A key Democratic Party official told SBS that while they "plan to actively respond" to the suspicions surrounding candidate Kim Seung-won, they refrained from commenting on candidate Yong Hye-in, stating that "she belongs to a different party." This suggests a shape of deep deliberation over candidate Yong, a Basic Income Party lawmaker, while fiercely defending candidate Kim, who belongs to the ruling party, taking into account the symbolism of the Minister of Justice position and the fallout should he fail to be appointed.
(Video reporting: Jung Sang-bo, Video editing: Wee Won-yang, Design: Seo Seung-hyun, Yang Ki-tae)
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