Moon's approval rating lowest in 9 months
President Moon Jae-in speaks during the opening ceremony of the 21st National Assembly, Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap
By Jung Da-min
President Moon Jae-in's job approval rating fell to its lowest level in nine months, according to a poll agency, Thursday, with the recent sexual harassment accusation against and death of Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, a member of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), apparently becoming the key factor pulling down the rating.
In a poll conducted of 1,510 adults by Realmeter from Monday to Wednesday, 44.1 percent of the respondents believed Moon was doing a good job, down 4.6 percentage points from a week before.
It is the lowest since the second week of October when the President was criticized for pushing ahead with the appointment of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk who was embroiled in corruption scandals.
Those expressing disapproval of Moon's job performance outnumbered those expressing support, with 51.7 percent viewing him negatively, up 5.2 percentage points from the week before. It was the first time since the second week of March for Moon's disapproval rating to be higher than his approval rating.
Political watchers said Park's case became a critical factor affecting the approval rating, which had already been declining gradually since mid-April following criticism of the government's employment and real estate policies.
Ever since Park was found dead on July 10, two days after his former secretary filed a report with the police accusing him of sexual harassment, the ruling DPK has faced severe criticism as it was the third sex crime case involving local government heads from the party.
The largest approval ratings decrease came from female respondents and those in their 30s, who are more sensitive to sexual harassment issues. For female respondents, their support rate for Moon dropped 7.9 percentage points and disapproval rate jumped 9.5 percentage points; for those in their 30s, the support rate dipped 13.9 percent and the disapproval rate rose 9.5 percentage points.
The support rate for the DPK was also down ― reaching its lowest point since the second week of October ― standing at 35.4 percent, down 4.3 percentage points from the week before, while that for the main opposition United Future Party (UFP) reached 31.1 percent, up 1.4 percentage points. The gap between the two parties' approval ratings was 4.3 percentage points, the smallest gap since the UFP was established in February.