37% say Han unfit to be PM: poll
Prime minister nominee Han Duck-soo speaks to a reporter at his office in Seoul, April 28. Yonhap
Thirty-seven percent of Koreans believe prime minister nominee Han Duck-soo is not fit for the country's No. 2 job, according to a poll released Friday.
The Gallup Korea survey of 1,003 adults, conducted from Tuesday to Thursday, also showed 30 percent saying Han was a good choice for prime minister in the incoming government. Thirty-three percent of respondents declined to answer.
Compared with survey results from three weeks ago, the negative responses to Han increased 15 percentage points, while positive responses decreased eight percentage points.
Han, 72, was picked by President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol as the first prime minister of the incoming government, but he has come under fire for allegations of conflicts of interest related to his home in the early 1990s and his stint with the law firm Kim Chang.
His confirmation hearings, Monday and Tuesday, ground to a halt after the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the minor opposition Justice Party boycotted the sessions due to Han's alleged failure to submit information requested by them. The two-day confirmation hearing on Han has been rescheduled for next week.
Meanwhile, 43 percent said Yoon was doing a good job as president-elect, while 44 percent disagreed.
Asked why they viewed Yoon's performance negatively, 35 percent cited his plan to relocate the presidential office, while 14 percent pointed to his personnel appointments.
In regard to the approval rating of outgoing President Moon Jae-in, 45 percent rated his performance positively, while 49 percent gave a negative assessment.
On the favorability rating of political parties, Yoon's People Power Party stood at 41 percent, followed by the DPK with 33 percent and the minor progressive Justice Party with 23 percent.
The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. (Yonhap)