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S.Korean president's approval rate falls to lowest on MERS outbreak: survey

Xinhua, June 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

South Korean President Park Geun-hye' s approval rate declined to the lowest since her inauguration in early 2013 due to the outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), a survey showed Friday.

Park's support rate was 29 percent this week, the lowest since she took office in February 2013, according to the survey of 1,000 adults by a pollster Gallup Korea. It was down 4 percentage points from the prior week.

One out of three respondents cited the government's insufficient response to the MERS spread as their negative assessment of President Park.

One more MERS contagion was reported Friday, bringing the total contagion cases to 166 since the first case was discovered on May 20. The death toll rose to 24.

Support rate for the ruling Saenuri Party was unchanged at 40 percent, but the rate for the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy rose 3 percentage points from a week earlier to 25 percent this week. Endi