Moon's disapproval rate surpasses 60% for 1st time
By Kim Rahn
President Moon Jae-in / Yonhap
More than 60 percent of people showed dissatisfaction with President Moon Jae-in's job performance, a poll showed Thursday.
A total of 61.2 percent of people expressed their discontent, marking the first time the President's disapproval rating has surpassed 60 percent since his inauguration in May 2017 in polls conducted by Realmeter.
His job approval rating, which has been declining for weeks, stood at 35.1 percent, also the lowest so far, a drop of 1.5 percentage points from a week ago.
Realmeter said many negative situations surrounding the government have taken place, while there were no immediate factors that could turn public opinion around.
One such issue was ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) head Rep. Lee Nak-yon's remark on the need to pardon former Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye who have been in prison following their respective convictions for corruption. The remark drew an immediate backlash, especially from those in the liberal bloc and even within the DPK itself, which led Lee to back off later.
Other negative factors included a mass COVID-19 outbreak at a state-run prison; protests from indoor sports facility operators about the fairness of the government's application of antivirus measures; the failure of the authorities to prevent the death of a toddler after repeated reports of suspected child abuse; and Iran's seizure of a Korean oil tanker.
The support rate for the ruling DPK also fell slightly by 1.1 percentage points to 28.6 percent, while that of the main opposition People Power Party rose by 2.1 percentage points to 32.5 percent.
The poll was conducted on 1,505 adults from Monday to Wednesday.