Moon’s approval rating falls to lowest level since inauguration: poll
President Moon Jae-in’s job approval rating declined to 43 percent, the lowest point since his inauguration in May 2017, a Gallup Korea poll said Friday. In the poll, of 1,003 adults, conducted by the leading pollster nationwide from Tuesday to Thursday, only 43 percent said they approved of Moon’s job performance as president, down 2 percentage points from the previous week. The reading of 43 percent marked the lowest figure for Moon, who took office about two years ago with an approval rating of over 80 percent. Forty-six percent said they disapproved of Moon’s presidential performance, marking a 2 percentage-point rise from a week earlier.
It is the third time, after the third week of last December, and the second week of this month, that Moon’s disapproval rating has exceeded his approval rating. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, with a confidence level of 95 percent. The presidential approval rating was higher among respondents in their 20s (49 percent), 30s (52 percent) and 40s (54 percent). By contrast, the disapproval rating was higher than the average among those in their 50s (48 percent) and 60s (62 percent). Respondents with an approval opinion cited Moon’s contribution to improving inter-Korean relations, while those with a disapproval opinion criticized the president over worsening economic and livelihood problems.
Meanwhile, the ruling Democratic Party’s approval rating plunged to 35 percent, the lowest level under the Moon administration, Gallup Korea said. The approval rating of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party inched up by 1 percentage point to 22 percent, the highest figure since Moon’s inauguration, it said.
(Yonhap)
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