Park's approval rating hits record-low of 5%
By Rachel Lee
President Park Geun-hye’s approval rating has plunged to 5 percent ― the lowest for any South Korean president in modern history ― amid a swirling scandal involving her confidant Choi Soon-sil.
According to a Gallop Korea survey released Friday, her approval rating has fallen by 12 percentage points from last week’s approval rating to 5 percent.
This is the lowest since she took office in February 2013 ― and the lowest for any president at any moment since the republic was founded in 1948. The previous record was 6 percent for Kim Young-sam when the nation was hit by the Asian financial crisis in late 1997.
This is the result of interviews with 1,005 respondents nationwide, aged 19 and over from Tuesday to Thursday, according to the pollster.
The rating has been falling for seven consecutive weeks since the second week of September when the figure stood at 33 percent, the poll said.
“Looking at the past presidents’ job performance ratings, former President Kim Young-sam had both the highest and lowest records of 83 percent and 6 percent in his first year and fifth year, respectively,” Gallop Korea said. “This survey shows President Park’s approval rating was the lowest for sitting South Korean presidents.”
In addition, 89 percent of the respondents disapproved Park’s job performance, up 15 percent point from last week. Six percent of the people left no comments.
By region, Park’s approval was 2 percent in Seoul and 0 percent in South Jeolla Province while Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province showed 10 percent of support.
The poll also showed that Park’s approval rate stood at 1 percent from those in their 20s and 30s while 13 percent of those aged 60s and above supported Park.
The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea’s support rating was the highest ― 31 percent, followed by ruling Saenuri Party and the People’s Party with 18 and 13 percent, respectively.
President Park made her second apology on the scandal Friday, expressing her willingness to cooperate with the ongoing investigation into the scandal if necessary.