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President Park Geun-hye’s approval rating has fallen to its lowest level ever according to a survey released Monday, coinciding with a public backlash at a recent scandal involving her former chief of staff.
Park’s endorsement rating stood at 39.7 percent according to Realmeter, a local pollster, with a 3.1 percent margin of error and a 95 percent confidence level. The result was a drop from a Gallup Korea poll announced Friday, which put Park’s rating at 42 percent.
The tally is Park’s lowest since she began her term in February 2013. Some analysts suspected that the drop reflects the public’s frustration with Park’s response to allegations that Chung Yoon-hoi, her former chief of staff, had illicitly interfered in key personnel decisions in the government.
According to leaked presidential office documents, Chung had used personal ties to key presidential office aides to influence personnel decisions. Outside analysts said the leak was likely a result of a power struggle within Cheong Wa Dae among Park’s aides.
Last Sunday, Park had called the scandal an “unconfirmed rumor,” and flatly denied that Chung was involved in the presidential office’s decision-making process. Park added that the public should wait for prosecutors to finish related investigations.
The media, and even members of Park’s governing Saenuri Party have criticized Park’s statement, saying Park should have apologized, even if the rumors turned out to be false.
In a separate survey measured from Dec. 2-3, Realmeter reported that more than 60 percent of the public considered the Chung scandal a “critical incident that threatened to shake the country’s legal system.”
Analysts said Park’s options remain limited. But a Cabinet shuffle early next year could be viable, while a nationally televised apology to assuage critics is also possible.
Park issued a nationally televised statement to calm her critics in May. Her apology came amid fierce public outcries that Park and the government had not done enough to rescue the victims of a maritime disaster in April, when the ferry Sewol sank in the West Sea, killing more than 300.
By Jeong Hunny (hj257@heraldcorp.com)
Park’s endorsement rating stood at 39.7 percent according to Realmeter, a local pollster, with a 3.1 percent margin of error and a 95 percent confidence level. The result was a drop from a Gallup Korea poll announced Friday, which put Park’s rating at 42 percent.
The tally is Park’s lowest since she began her term in February 2013. Some analysts suspected that the drop reflects the public’s frustration with Park’s response to allegations that Chung Yoon-hoi, her former chief of staff, had illicitly interfered in key personnel decisions in the government.
According to leaked presidential office documents, Chung had used personal ties to key presidential office aides to influence personnel decisions. Outside analysts said the leak was likely a result of a power struggle within Cheong Wa Dae among Park’s aides.
Last Sunday, Park had called the scandal an “unconfirmed rumor,” and flatly denied that Chung was involved in the presidential office’s decision-making process. Park added that the public should wait for prosecutors to finish related investigations.
The media, and even members of Park’s governing Saenuri Party have criticized Park’s statement, saying Park should have apologized, even if the rumors turned out to be false.
In a separate survey measured from Dec. 2-3, Realmeter reported that more than 60 percent of the public considered the Chung scandal a “critical incident that threatened to shake the country’s legal system.”
Analysts said Park’s options remain limited. But a Cabinet shuffle early next year could be viable, while a nationally televised apology to assuage critics is also possible.
Park issued a nationally televised statement to calm her critics in May. Her apology came amid fierce public outcries that Park and the government had not done enough to rescue the victims of a maritime disaster in April, when the ferry Sewol sank in the West Sea, killing more than 300.
By Jeong Hunny (hj257@heraldcorp.com)
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Articles by Korea Herald
