Oh Young-jin is The Korea Times' publisher and president. He began to work at The Korea Times in 1988 as a sports writer. Then, he worked as a reporter and later as editor at the City Desk, Business Desk and Politics Desk. He worked as chief editorial writer before taking the current position. He has a keen interest in politics as well as defense affairs.
President's approval rating barely holds on to majority
By Oh Young-jin
By Oh Young-jin
Approval ratings for President Moon Jae-in have dropped for eight consecutive weeks to a record 52.2 percent low.
Pollster Realmeter conducted the survey of 1,505 adults on Nov. 19-21 for the second week of the month, which showed President Moon's support rating down 1.2 percentage points from the week before to 52.5 percent.
It marked the eighth consecutive weekly drop since Moon received 65.3 percent approval following the inter-Korean summit in September.
Moon's approval ratings have precipitated so fast that it is worth a look at which constituents are most disillusioned by Moon.
In the Lee Young-ja, the same as the name of a celebrity comedian, Lee is pronounced like two words in Korean representing those in their 20s facing the brunt of economic hardship; Young for the conservative Yongnam or Gyeongsang Provinces suspecting Moon's liberal agenda and ja for the self-employed, who feel deserted by their supposed guardian government.
The Lee Young-ja phenomenon appeared right on the money.
The Realmeter poll showed that in Daegu and North Geyongsang Province, which form Yongnam, Moon's rating fell by a whopping 11.7 percentage points to 29.1 percent.
South Gyeongsang Province and Busan, Moon's hometown, slid 7.9 percentage points to 40 percent. For that week, those in their 30s registered the demographically biggest weekly drop of 6.6 percentage points.
Adding to the mix is Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung, who is being dogged for personal issues, with his wife being questioned for alleged political smearing acts on social media. Lee, a potential presidential standard bearer for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, has tried to portray himself as a persecuted political martyr, generating a great deal of negative publicity against the ruling camp.
Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said, “We are watching the ratings with keen interest.”
The ruling party commented, “It is important to revive the economy in general.”
The leftist Party for Democracy and Peace, which is closely aligned with the ruling Democratic Party, said, “The President's falling approval rating is due to the missing Cabinet and arrogant chief executive.”