Published : Nov. 1, 2016 - 18:16
President Park Geun-hye’s approval rating dipped to a new low of 10.4 percent, a survey showed Tuesday.
According to a nationwide poll by local pollster Research View, the disapproval rating for Park hit an all-time high of 81.2 percent, up 14.9 percent from a week earlier, right after the influence-peddling scandal surfaced.
Park’s efforts to soothe public anger by making an apology and carrying out a reshuffle of the presidential staff have not had much impact. The latest data corresponds with other survey results released over the past few days which point to a dive in the president’s popularity across all age groups and regions.
The fall in her popularity is especially notable in her core support base -- Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province and the over-60 age group.
In Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, her approval rating stands at 11 percent. In Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province, 12.4 percent said that the president was doing okay. In Seoul, 8.3 percent said they backed Park.
The poll showed that 41.3 percent of the supporters of the ruling Saenuri Party thought that the president was doing OK, while 40.6 percent thought otherwise.
Among those who voted for Park in the 2012 presidential election, only 20.1 percent still support her, with 66 percent turning their backs on her.
Park was the least popular among the younger generation. Only 5.3 percent of those in their 20s and 5 percent of those in their 30s said that she was doing a good job. Among those in their 60s, 18.1 percent had a positive view of Park.
The survey was conducted on 1,088 mobile phone users aged 19 or over on Oct. 31 through the random digit dial method. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)