By Kim Hyo-jin
The approval rating for President Moon Jae-in reached 81.6 percent in the first popularity poll since he won the snap election two weeks ago to become the successor of the ousted former President Park Geun-hye.
The survey, conducted by Realmeter from May 15 to 19 and released Monday, showed 81.6 percent of 2,526 respondents are satisfied with their new leader. The support rate of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) also stood at over 50 percent in line with the high popularity of the new President.
Of the respondents, only 10.1 disapproved of Moon. The remaining 8.3 percent said they were not sure.
This is well above his predecessors’ approval ratings at the beginning of their mandates. Park stood at 54.8 percent and her predecessor Lee Myung-bak stood at 76 percent a week after their inaugurations.
The high popularity of Moon reflects the people’s positive response to his swift actions in normalizing state affairs, analysts say.
Moon began sending special envoys to neighboring countries soon after he was sworn in, showing his intent to put diplomacy back on track. He has also filled high-level posts with reformative figures, encouraging expectations that he would live up to the election pledges including chaebol and prosecution reforms.
He sidelined his closest advisers when filling in key posts, dismissing earlier accusations by opposition parties that Moon’s longtime friends and followers would share power and control state management if he takes office.
Moon’s approval rating peaked in the Jeolla provinces at 94.5 percent, followed by Gyeonggi Province and Incheon at 84 percent and Seoul at 81.9 percent.
The people from the traditionally conservative Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province also put him at a high confidence rating of 72.8 percent.
It was notable that respondents across the ideological spectrum backed the liberal leader.
Overall 61.5 conservatives approved of Moon. And 40.6 percent of those who favor the far-rightist Liberty Korea Party (LKP) said he is doing well, outnumbering the 39.8 percent of LKP supporters who view him negatively.
The approval rating for the DPK was at 53.3 percent, up 7.5 percentage points from the previous week. It is a record high since the launch of the party’s predecessor New Politics Alliance for Democracy in March 2014.
The LKP followed with a support rate of 12.4 percent, down 0.8 percentage points from a week earlier. The minor People’s Party stood at 7.7 percent and Bareun Party at 6.8 percent.
The progressive Justice Party was put at 6.6 percent, suffering the biggest fall by 3 percentage points from the previous week.