S. Korean president's approval rating inches down on sex scandals of liberal politicians: poll

SEOUL, March 12 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in's approval rating inched down last week on rising controversy over suspected sex abuses by liberal politicians, a weekly poll showed Monday.

According to the Realmeter survey, support for Moon was 65.8 percent last week, down 0.7 percentage points from a week earlier.

The result was based on the poll of 2,502 voters conducted from Monday to Friday. It had 2 percentage points in margin of error with a 95 percent confidence level.

Moon's support scores fell slightly despite growing signs of détente on the Korean Peninsula, which were offset by a series of the alleged sexual violence and harassment committed by politicians in the liberal bloc.

The sex scandals were known public last week, when the two Koreas agreed to hold a summit in late April and U.S. President Donald Trump said he would meet Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, by May to achieve a permanent denuclearization.

Support for Moon's ruling Democratic Party declined 1.9 percentage points to 48.1 percent last week, but it kept a top post in support scores.

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party saw its approval rating fall 0.5 percentage points to 19.2 percent.

Support rates for the minor conservative Bareun Future Party and the minor progressive Justice Party stood at 8.4 percent and 5.2 percent respectively. The minor Party for Democracy and Peace earned 2.6 percent of support score. Enditem