Off the wire
• Peruvian military tests security measures ahead of APEC Meeting  • Brazil oil giant posts losses of 4.9 bln USD in 3Q  • 1st Ld: China commemorates 150th anniverary of Sun Yat-sen's birth  • Spotlight: Chinese premier's visits boost pragmatic cooperation with Eurasian countries  • Sun Yat-sen champion of national integrity, unity: Xi  • Roundup: S. Korea freezes interest rates at record low on expected U.S. rate hike  • Former Guangdong official sentenced to death with reprieve  • Australia remembers lost soldiers in WWI on Remembrance Day  • 1st LD: 15 killed in factory fire near Indian capital  • Former Inner Mongolia senior political advisor sentenced to death  
You are here: 　 Home

S.Korean president's approval rating stays at record low of 5 pct

Xinhua, November 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

South Korean President Park Geun-hye posted 5 percent in her approval rating, keeping the lowest for any of her predecessors over a scandal involving her longtime confidante and former aides, a local pollster survey showed on Friday.

According to a Gallup Korea poll of 1,003 adults conducted from Tuesday to Thursday, Park's support score was 5 percent this week, unchanged from last week. It was the lowest for any South Korean president.

Negative assessment on the embattled president was up 1 percentage point to 90 percent, the highest since her inauguration in February 2013. The remaining 4 percent declined to respond to the weekly poll.

Park's approval rating, which moved from 30 percent to 50 percent in the first three years of her presidency, turned downward this year and plummeted over the scandal surrounding Choi Soon-sil, Park's decades-long friend charged with peddling undue influence and meddling in government affairs from the shadows.

Hundreds of thousands of South Koreans are forecast to march in central Seoul this Saturday to demand Park's resignation. Organizers estimated at least 500,000 people would turn out, while police said 160,000-170,000 would take to the streets.

Traditional support base for Park turned their backs sharply. Support for Park in the North Gyeongsang province fell 1 percentage point to 9 percent this week, with the rating in southwestern region staying at zero.

Those aged 19-29 gave no support to Park, while the scandal-hit president's approval rating among those in their 30s and 40s recorded just 3 percent. Support scores among those in their 50s and 60s or older were 6 percent and 13 percent respectively.

Support for the ruling Saenuri Party sank with President Park at 17 percent, down 1 percentage point from the previous week.

The main opposition Minjoo Party posted 31 percent in its support rate, with the rating for the minor People's Party staying at 13 percent. Support for another minor Justice Party was up 1 percentage point to 6 percent. Endit