Nearly 4 out of 10 Koreans approve of President Lee: survey

By Byun Duk-kun

SEOUL, April 21 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak's approval rating has reached nearly 40 percent this year after dipping as low as 20 percent last year during heated nationwide protests against the resumption of U.S. beef imports, a survey released Tuesday showed.

According to a poll conducted this month by Research & Research, a private
research firm, 39.3 percent of 800 people surveyed answered they approved of the
Lee administration.
The survey was conducted under the company's own market watch program, which has
kept track of presidents' monthly approval ratings since 1991, according to a
researcher at the company.
Lee's popularity had dropped dramatically to 21.6 percent in June, only two
months after it reached nearly 60 percent following his victory in the December
election with the largest margin in history.
The rapid drop came amid violent protests over an agreement with Washington to
lift the South Korea's ban on U.S. beef, imposed in 2003 following a case of mad
cow disease case in the United States.
Over 70 percent of those surveyed at the time had opposed the government,
according to the company official, who asked not to be identified.
Lee's approval rating remains virtually unchanged since the beginning of the
year. A January poll showed 39.4 percent of people approved of the president.
A greater change was seen in the number of people who disapproved of Lee and his
administration.
In January, 54.4 percent of those surveyed said they did not approve of the
president. That number dropped to 51.7 percent this month.
"There is a slight trend of decreasing opposition, but we cannot say there is a
definite sign because the drop is still within the margin of error," the company
official said.