South Korea's Lee hits new approval low as housing discontent grows

By Jack Kim

SEOUL, Sept 14 (Reuters) - South Korean ‌President Lee Jae-myung's approval ​rating fell ​to a new low on Monday, extending a steep decline as he entered the second year of his five-year term amid growing public discontent with key policies, including housing.

In a Realmeter survey published on Monday, 63.3% ‌of respondents said they disapproved of Lee's performance while 33.8% said he was doing a good job.

Public ⁠dissatisfaction with housing policy and cabinet appointments, including the withdrawal of a gender equality minister nominee and ethics violation accusations against the justice minister nominee, weighed ‌on declining support, the pollster said.

Lee ‌has not publicly commented on his falling popularity, but previously said that what matters is the finish line.

"There's no point talking about a goal for what kind of support I'd like to get," Lee said early in his presidency last year. "I'm ​going to do my best with the expectation that it'll be higher when I finish."

Some Democratic Party members and supporters have expressed concern about whether he can reverse the decline soon enough to help the liberals retain a parliamentary majority ⁠in an election due in two years.

"Once you hit 3 (in the first digit) in support rating, no president has recovered from that," Kim Eo-joon, a prominent liberal pundit ​and an early supporter of Lee, said on his YouTube show last month.

A presidential Blue House spokesperson said Lee plans to speak directly to the public in a format still under review.

"We look ​at this as a compound result of various policy issues such ‌as real estate and the stock market as well as political issues," Kang Yu-jung told a Friday briefing when asked about falling approval ratings.

"We're listening to the voices of the public with a heavy ⁠sense of responsibility."

HOUSING WOES

When Lee spoke about the finish line, he was reflecting on his time as a mayor and later as governor of Gyeonggi, South Korea's most populous region.

Riding a reputation as an effective administrator, Lee's approval rating rose from 29% in 2018 to a peak of ⁠72% two years later, before leaving office at around 60%.

As president, however, he has faced a complex set of challenges.

Housing has emerged as a ​major source of public dissatisfaction, echoing a challenge that hamstrung the presidency of the last liberal president, Moon Jae-in.

Lee has vowed to curb property speculation by raising taxes on owners of multiple homes and expensive properties, while tightening borrowing restrictions on leveraged purchases.

Critics say the measures have left ‌many prospective homebuyers feeling locked out of urban housing markets.

A debate over developing 2,800 acres of land being freed up in Seoul's Yongsan district, including a 740-acre parkland just smaller than New ‌York's Central Park, into high-density housing has highlighted competing demands for housing and green space.

Lee during his presidential campaign pledged to create a "Central Park ⁠for Korea", but the issue has become politically sensitive ‌as pressure grows to boost housing supply.

Kim ​Si-deok, a commentator on urban development, said Lee has left the perception he is listening more to those who want to keep Seoul a "boutique city" and not a mass housing market.

(Reporting by Jack KimEditing ‌by Ed Davies)

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