S. Korean president's approval rating surges following inter-Korean summit

SEOUL, May 3 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in's approval rating surged following last week's summit with Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), a local survey showed Thursday.

Support for Moon jumped 8.3 percentage points over the week to 78.3 percent this week, according to the poll by local pollster Realmeter.

The result was based on a poll of 1,002 voters conducted from Monday to Wednesday. It had 3.1 percentage points in the margin of error.

The pollster said the Panmunjom declaration raised expectations for the denuclearization and the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula, which led to a fast rise in Moon's support scores.

Moon and Kim met on the South Korean side of the border village of Panmunjom on April 27, agreeing to complete denuclearization and the change of the current armistice agreement into a peace treaty by the end of this year.

The peninsula remains technically in a state of war as the 1950-1953 Korean War ended with armistice.

Support for Moon's ruling Democratic Party gained 2.7 percentage points to 54.9 percent, staying in the top post. Enditem