Park's approval rating plunges below 20 percent for first time
By Kang Seung-woo
Amid a swirling scandal involving her long-time confidant Choi Soon-sil, President Park Geun-hye’s approval rating plunged below 20 percent for the first time, according to a poll released Thursday.
In addition, more than 40 percent of people think that Park should resign or be impeached.
Following media reports Monday that Choi, who has no official job in the Park administration, had prior access to presidential speeches and edited them, Park offered a public apology, Tuesday.
In addition, allegations that she engaged in other state affairs are also being raised, putting Park’s presidency on the line.
The survey conducted by Realmeter found that her approval rating for the fourth week of October was 21.2 percent after interviewing 1,528 respondents nationwide, aged 19 and over from Monday to Wednesday.
However, the three-day rolling average is not really indicative of how bad her situation is, as her daily approval rating on Wednesday registered 17.5 percent ― the lowest number since she took office in February 2013.
According to the poll, Park’s support on Monday, when she proposed revising the Constitution in a speech to the National Assembly, stood at 28.7 percent, but it fell to 22.7 percent on Tuesday after the influence-peddling scandal flared up and the President apologized.
Despite the public apology, additional allegations that Choi meddled in other state affairs, including security issues and personnel appointments, led the approval rating to plummet to 17.5 percent ― nearly half that of a month ago when the scandal involving Choi was first reported.
In addition, 73.1 percent of the people disapproved of Park’s job performance ― the first time for this to break the 70 percent mark, according to the poll.
The pollster said Park’s advocacy groups are also turning against her.
“In the wake of the scandal, President Park’s traditional supporters ― those who are from her political strongholds of Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, aged 60 or over and conservative voters ― turned their backs on her, which contributed to the approval rating declining below 20 percent,” said Realmeter CEO Lee Taek-soo.
The poll also showed that Park is losing support from young people, as evidenced by her approval rate being 2.4 percent and 7.3 percent from those in their 20s and 30s, respectively, compared with 35.7 percent from those aged 60 or older.
Lee expected that her approval may further decline as additional allegations surrounding Choi emerge.
Park’s approval rating is well below her predecessor Lee Myung-bak’s number at this point in their terms in office. Lee’s support in the fourth week of October in 2011 stood at 29.8 percent.
Meanwhile, 42.3 percent of respondents in another Realmeter survey that polled 532 people said President Park should resign or be impeached to take responsibility for the controversy, while 21.5 percent favored carrying out an extensive reshuffle of her senior secretaries and Cabinet.
Amid growing calls from the ruling Saenuri Party for her to leave the party, 17.8 percent supported the idea.
To ease the repercussions of the scandal, Park is expected to conduct a personnel shakeup as early as next week.
“It is difficult to quickly make a decision on the reshuffle,” said a Cheong Wa Dae official.
“If the President has to decide on it, the decision may come sometime next week after thinking first about the selection of replacements and finding a new direction for how to run the country.”
On Wednesday, the ruling party demanded a sweeping reshuffle of top officials at the presidential office. In response Park said she would reflect on it.