Seoul, March 2 (NationPress) South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has appointed a four-term lawmaker from the ruling Democratic Party to serve as budget minister, alongside a former senior fisheries official chosen as oceans minister, as announced by Cheong Wa Dae on Monday.

Park Hong-keun has been selected to steer the Ministry of Planning and Budget, while Hwang Jong-woo, who chaired the international cooperation committee at the Korea Maritime Cooperation Center, is set to lead the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. This information was provided by Lee Kyu-yeon, the presidential secretary for public affairs, during a briefing, as reported by Yonhap News Agency.

This decision follows the withdrawal of Lee's nomination of Lee Hye-hoon as budget minister in January due to escalating controversy surrounding her alleged misconduct, which includes questionable real estate transactions involving her family.

While cabinet appointments require parliamentary hearings, they do not necessitate formal approval to assume their roles.

If confirmed, Park will be the inaugural budget minister under the Lee administration, which was established this year as part of a governmental reorganization plan.

Known for his close association with Lee, Park has previously served as the head of the parliamentary special committee on budget and accounts and was the DP's floor leader when Lee was the party's leader.

On the other hand, Hwang's nomination follows the resignation of former Oceans Minister Chun Jae-soo late last year amid accusations of accepting bribes from the Unification Church.

Additionally, Lee named Jung Il-yeon, a former judge, as the head of the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission, and Song Sang-kyo, formerly the secretary general of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to lead that commission.

In a related development, President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating has slightly decreased from the previous week, marking its first decline in six weeks, according to a survey released on Monday.

The approval rating now stands at 57.1 percent, a drop of 1.1 percentage points from the week prior, based on a survey by Realmeter, commissioned by a local business news outlet. Among those surveyed, 38.2 percent expressed disapproval of Lee, an increase of 1 percentage point during the same period.

Realmeter partially attributed this decline in approval ratings—despite positive financial and economic indicators—to recent social discussions regarding the fairness of the government's initiative to merge major cities and provinces, as well as the proposal to lower the age for criminal responsibility.

Lee has suggested merging the central city of Daejeon with the surrounding province of South Chungcheong to promote balanced regional development beyond the Seoul metropolitan area.

The latest opinion poll involved 2,507 adults conducted from Monday to Friday, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points, and a confidence level of 95 percent.

In a separate survey by the same organization, which included 1,002 participants aged 18 and over, the approval rating for the ruling Democratic Party fell by 1.5 percentage points from the previous week, reaching 47.1 percent.

Conversely, the approval rating for the main opposition People Power Party increased by 1.2 percentage points, now at 33.8 percent.

This poll carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, with a confidence level of 95 percent.