Seoul, Feb 7 (IANS): South Korean President Moon Jae-in's approval rating rose to 42.2 per cent last week, a new poll showed on Monday.

The negative assessment on Moon's conduct of state affairs gained 0.6 percentage points to 54.4 per cent, according to the Realmeter survey.

Support for Moon's ruling Democratic Party increased 3.3 percentage points to 37.6 per cent last week, reports Xinhua news agency.

The main conservative opposition People Power Party secured 39.4 per cent of support last week, up 4.2 percentage points from the previous.

The minor centre-right People's Party won 7.3 per cent of approval score, followed by the minor progressive Justice Party with 2.8 per cent of support.

As for the approval rating of presidential candidates, support for the Democratic Party's Lee Jae-myung shrank 0.4 percentage points over the week to 38.1 per cent last week.

Support for the People Power Party's Yoon Suk-yeol climbed 3.2 percentage points to 43.4 per cent last week.

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