President Lee’s approval rate recoreded lowest

According to a survey conducted by Gallup Korea in the third week of July, only 18 percent of those polled replied positively about President Lee Myung-bak’s performance of duty while 62 percent of the respondents said negatively about Lee’s performance. The survey marked the lowest approval rating for President Lee during his tenure of office. The rate this week was 2 percent lower than that of previous week. 

Among the Presidential hopefuls, Park Geun-hye registered the highest popularity rate with 37 percent, to be followed by Ahn Chul-soo with 21 percent, and Moon Jae-in 15 percent. However, Moon’s popularity rate gained 3 percent compated to that of previous week.  But, Ahn’s book publication failed to be reflected in the survey of the third week as its was published in the latter part of the week. The book’s influence is expected to be reflected in survey of next week. 

Among the political parties, the ruling Saenuri Party recorded the highest approval rate with 31 percent to be followed by Democratic United party 22 percent and United Progress party (UPP) 3 percent, Advancement & Unfication Party 1%. Some 43 percent of those surveyed made no reply to that question.

In case of two persons showdown between Park and Ahn, Park had upperhand with 45 percent while Ahn stood with 37 percent. In duel between Park and Moon, it was 47 percent to 33 percent in favor of Park. However, Park’s popularity declined 3 percent point while Moon gained 3 percent compared to those of previous week. The gap between the two candidateds was 14 percent point, the narrowest since the end of the general election last April. 

news@theasian.asia