Seoul, Dec 9 (IANS): President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating has plunged to 17.3 per cent, the lowest level since he took office in 2022, a poll showed on Monday.

The survey, conducted by Realmeter and commissioned by a local news outlet, showed a whopping 7.7 percentage point drop in positive responses toward Yoon's performance compared to the previous week, following his abrupt declaration of martial law last Tuesday.

Negative assessment of Yoon rose by 8.2 percentage points to a record high of 79.2 per cent, Yonhap news agency reported.

The survey, conducted from Thursday to Friday last week on 1,012 adults, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points and a confidence level of 95 per cent.

In a separate survey conducted by the same pollster on 1,012 individuals aged 18 and over Thursday and Friday, the approval ratings of the ruling People Power Party fell 6.1 percentage points to 26.2 per cent, while the figure for the main opposition Democratic Party rose 2.4 percentage point to 47.6 per cent.

The gap in approval ratings between the rival parties came to 21.4 percentage points, marking the highest since the Yoon government took office, according to Realmeter.

The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, with a confidence rate of 95 per cent.