President and Ruling Party Suffer Declining Approval Rate after Elections

It was revealed that after the worst-ever defeat in the April 30 re- and by-elections, the approval rate for President Roh and the Uri Party is declining.

On May 12, the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI) announced its survey results of a poll conducted on 700 adult males and females nationwide in association with TNS, a survey research firm. In the survey, they found that 51.2 percent of the surveyed think “President Roh is doing a poor job of handling national affairs, while 31.6 percent think, “President Roh is doing well.”

The positive response, compared with a poll that was conducted on April 26, has decreased by 7.6 percent, whereas, the negative response has increased by 6.5 percent.

The Uri Party’s approval rating stands at 23.2 percent, down by 5.7 percentage points from two weeks ago. Over the same period, the approval rating for the Grand National Party has risen by 4.8 percent, recording 30.7 percent, which is 7.5 percentage points higher than the Uri Party.

It’s the reversal of the approval rating for the ruling and the opposition party in six months since last November.

In the poll, except for those in their 30s, the Uri Party’s approval rate fell behind the Grand National Party’s in every age group, even lagging behind by 0.1 percentage points in the 20s bracket.

To the question of the approval rating for the leader of the Grand National Party, Park Geun-hye as a party leader, 61.3 percent answered that Park is leading the party well, while 23.3 percent said that Park is leading the party poorly.

Another poll of 800 adult males and females nationwide conducted by Research and Research (R&R), a research company, on May 4 also found that 51.9 percent of those surveyed said that “President Roh is doing a poor job in national affairs,” while 39.1 percent said that “President Roh is doing well.”

President Roh’s continuous upward approval rating has dropped for the first time since last November in this poll as well.

Yeon-Wook Jung jyw11@donga.com