Seoul, Jan 17 (IANS): South Korean President Moon Jae-in's approval rating fell 2.2 percentage points to 40.3 per cent last week, a new poll showed on Monday.

The negative assessment on Moon's conduct of state affairs gained 3.1 percentage points to 56.7 per cent, according to the Realmeter survey.

Support for Moon's ruling Democratic Party slipped 2.3 percentage points to 31.3 per cent last week, reports Xinhua news agency.

The main conservative opposition People Power Party won 39.0 per cent of support last week, up 4.4 percentage points from the previous week.

The minor centre-right People's Party garnered 9.3 percent of approval score, trailed by the minor centre-left Open Democratic Party with 4.8 per cent and the minor progressive Justice Party with 3.4 per cent.

As for the approval rating of presidential candidates, support for the Democratic Party's Lee Jae-myung shrank 3.4 percentage pointsto 36.7 per cent last week.

Support for the People Power Party's Yoon Suk-yeol advanced 6.5 percentage points to 40.6 per cent last week.

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