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| President Moon Jae-in speaks during a meeting with his aides at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap |
By Jung Da-min
President Moon Jae-in's job approval rating has remained relatively high over the past few months despite continuous controversies surrounding the administration, such as scandals involving his aides and North Korea issues.
The support rate has remained above 40 percent even after two-thirds of his five-year term has passed, which is high compared to his predecessors at this point in their presidencies. Political watchers say the main reason is the weak opposition bloc, which has neither a strong potential presidential candidate nor policy alternatives.
Public opinion has been unfavorable to the government in recent weeks following Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae's alleged influence peddling in her son's military service, the killing of a South Korean official by North Korean troops and a yacht-buying trip to the U.S. taken by Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha's husband amid the COVID-19 situation. But these did not have much effect on Moon's approval rating.
In a poll conducted of 2,516 adults by Realmeter last week, 44.8 percent of the respondents said Moon was doing a good job, up 0.6 percentage points from the previous week. Moon's approval rating has stayed above 43 percent in the three months since mid-July, which is relatively high considering the criticisms raised against the administration over the series of controversies.
Those disapproving of Moon's job performance have been outnumbering those expressing support, with 51.8 percent viewing him negatively in the latest poll, but the disapproval rating has remained below 53 percent in the past three months.
The support rate for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is also taking the lead, with the gap between approval ratings for the DPK and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) growing. In the latest poll, 35.6 percent of respondents supported the DPK, while 28.9 percent expressed support for the PPP.
Political watchers said the main opposition party is struggling to increase its public support due to the absence of powerful figures able to present alternatives to controversial government policies. They also said President Moon's job approval rating is influenced by the situation in which supporters of the ruling bloc see no viable alternatives even though they are dissatisfied with the DPK.
"There is an atmosphere that the main opposition party has not yet been recognized as an alternative, so it seems that the departure of the ruling bloc's supporters to other opposition parties is limited at a certain level," political commentator Yu Chang-seon said.
"However, as we witnessed during the previous administration under former President Park Geun-hye, there is no such concrete support base for a President … An important variable is whether there will be a figure from the PPP who could serve as an alternative to the ruling bloc leaders. The PPP is urged to present powerful candidates in next year's by-elections including the Seoul mayoral election and the presidential election in 2022."
Kim Man-heum, director of the Korean Academy of Politics and Leadership, said the political situation is favorable to Moon as the DPK has become the supermajority in the 21st National Assembly after a landslide victory in the April general election.
"When it comes to Moon's job approval rating, it is not an absolute assessment of the President himself as it is, in reality, affected by the people's assessment of the main opposition," Kim said. "The public opinion of the PPP has not yet reached the point where the people would shift their perceptions and trust the party as an alternative."
