GNP: 40.6%; Uri Party: 12.9%

The approval rating of the Grand National Party (GNP) dropped to 40.6 percent, down 10.8 percent from previous polls conducted by Dong-A Ilbo on March 29.

Following the GNP, the approval ratings of the Uri Party stood at 12.9 percent, the Democratic Labor Party’s (DLP) at 12.1 percent, the Democratic Party’s (DP) at 5.7 percent, the United New Party’s (UNP) at 2.6 percent and the People First Party’s at 1.6 percent.

The survey was conducted on Saturday through telephone interviews by the Korea Research Center at Dong-A Ilbo’s request on a random sample of 1,000 adults nationwide.

When asked about the cause for the GNP’s defeat in the April 25 by-elections, 27.7 percent of those surveyed mentioned corruption scandals, such as the alleged bribery in the candidate nomination process, while 24.7 percent pointed out the division between GNP presidential aspirants Lee Myung-pak and Park Geun-hye.

According to a survey of presidential candidate preferences, Lee topped the poll with a support rating of 41.7 percent, followed by Park (19.3 percent), former Gyeonggi Governor Sohn Hak-kyu (6.4 percent), former Seoul National University president Chung Un-chan (2.2 percent), former Uri Party Chairman Chung Dong-young (1.8 percent), DLP floor leader Kwon Young-ghil (1.8 percent), former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook (1.5 percent) and DLP lawmaker No Whoe-chan (1.5 percent).

Although the approval ratings of Lee and Park dropped by 3.9 percent and 0.7 percent from their March totals, respectively, they are still leading other candidates with big margins.

When asked about President Roh Moo-hyun`s performance, 34.8 percent of respondents said he is doing well, up 10.2 percent from the March survey, while 55.8 percent said he is doing poorly. However, 82.6 percent opposed the establishment of a memorial hall for Roh, while only 10.2 percent supported one.

Meanwhile, in regard to providing assistance to North Korea, 61.1 percent responded, “Seoul must not send aid to Pyongyang unless the North Korean nuclear problem is resolved,” while 36.9 percent responded, “Seoul must continue sending aid regardless of the nuclear issue.”

This survey has a 95-percent confidence level and a sampling error of ±3.1 percent.

mindy@donga.com