Moon's approval rating declining

President Moon Jae-in delivers a speech at Daejeon National Cemetery, Saturday, to mark the 65th anniversary of Memorial Day. Joint Press Corps

By Kim Rahn

President Moon Jae-in's approval rating has been falling in recent weeks, with no specific policies or events to pull it up, an opinion poll showed, Monday.

According to the survey by Realmeter, 59.1 percent of 2,515 people responded they believed Moon was doing a good job, down from 59.9 percent the previous week and 62.3 percent a week earlier.

Another 35.9 percent said they did not approve of Moon's handling of state affairs, up from 35.3 percent one week before and 32.6 percent two weeks before.

The pollster said the support rate declined because there has been no momentum for the President to maintain or increase it ― he gained high recognition in April for the country's exemplary response to the COVID-19 pandemic but there has been no notable policy since, and economic policies presented afterward have not helped much in increasing the approval rating.

It is also said the corruption allegations against ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmaker Yoon Mee-hyang regarding her activities advocating for victims of wartime sex slavery also contributed to the drop of public support for Moon. The approval rate for the DPK has also dropped for three consecutive weeks from 42.5 percent to 42.1 percent and 41.6 percent this week.

The declining tendency was also shown in another survey by Gallup Korea. According to the latest poll results released Friday, Moon's support rate peaked at 71 percent in the first week of May and remained at 65 percent during the remaining weeks of May and then fell further to 62 percent last week.

In the Gallup Korea poll, the DPK's support rate also dropped from 47 percent to 43 percent in a week, while the ratio of people who did not support any political party increased from 22 percent to 26 percent during the same period.