Seoul, Jun 20 (IANS): South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating stayed at 48.0 per cent, unchanged compared to the previous week, a new poll showed on Monday.

Last week, Yoon's approval rating fell below 50 per cent for the first time since he took office last month.

The President, who spent decades as a prosecutor, had recently faced criticism that he selected too many former and incumbent prosecutors for key government positions, including the chief of the watchdog Financial Supervisory Service.

The negative assessment on Yoon's conduct of state affairs gained 1.2 percentage points to 45.4 per cent, according to new survey by pollster Realmeter.

Support for the ruling conservative People Power Party dipped 0.5 percentage points over the week to 46.8 per cent last week, reports Xinhua news agency.

The main liberal opposition Democratic Party's approval rating rose 0.2 percentage points to 39.4 per cent.

The minor progressive Justice Party garnered 3.4 per cent of support last week, down 0.2 percentage points from the prior week.