Seoul, Dec 20 (IANS): South Korean President Moon Jae-in's approval rating inched down 0.2 percentage points to 40.2 per cent last week, a new poll showed on Monday.

The negative assessment on Moon's conduct of state affairs added 0.7 percentage points to 56.8 per cent, according to the Realmeter survey.

Support for Moon's ruling Democratic Party fell 1.1 percentage points to 33.1 per cent last week, reports Xinhua news agency citing the survey.

The main conservative opposition People Power Party won 39.2 per cent of support last week, down 0.1 percentage point from the previous week.

The minor centre-right People's Party gained 7.2 per cent of approval score, followed by the minor centre-left Open Democratic Party with 5.6 per cent and the minor progressive Justice Party with 4.1 per cent.

As for the approval rating of presidential candidates, support for the Democratic Party's Lee Jae-myung retreated 1.7 percentage points over the week to 38.0 per cent last week.

Support for the People Power Party's Yoon Suk-yeol declined 0.8 percentage points to 44.4 per cent last week.

The country's presidential election is scheduled for March 9, 2022.