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Moon's approval rating rises despite planned tax hike

By Catherine Chung
Published : July 27, 2017 - 14:10
President Moon Jae-in's approval rating rebounded to the highest it's been in three weeks, a survey showed Thursday, amid a government plan to increase tax rates only for the superrich.

In a survey conducted by Realmeter, 74.7 percent of 1,533 voters surveyed said they approved of the president's management of state affairs, up 2.3 percentage points from the weekly survey conducted last week and released Monday.

The latest survey, conducted at the request of local radio station tbs, took place between Monday and Wednesday. It has a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points with a confidence level of 95 percent, according to the local pollster.


President Moon Jae-in (L) speaks in a weekly meeting with his top presidential secretaries held at the presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, on July 27, 2017. (Yonhap)


Those who disapproved of Moon's state management accounted for 18.7 percent of all respondents, down 0.6 percentage point from a week earlier.

The on-week rise in Moon's approval rating followed two consecutive weeks of drop. It also came after the new government announced its key policy objectives for the next five years.

The objectives, to be realized through 100 policy tasks, are expected to cost an additional 178 trillion won ($160.1 billion) in the 2018-2022 period.

The government has noted nearly half of the additional spending will have to come from an increase in tax revenues.

In a separate survey conducted by Realmeter on Friday, 85.6 percent of respondents said they approved collecting more tax from the largest and most well-off businesses and individuals. Only 10 percent disagreed while 4.4 percent said they were unsure.

The approval rating for Moon's ruling Democratic Party gained 4.3 percentage points to 54.7 percent.

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party saw its approval rating slip 0.9 percentage point on-week to 15.1 percent while the progressive Justice Party had its rating dwindle 0.5 percentage point to 6.2 percent, the third highest for all political parties here.

The liberal People's Party came next with an approval rating of 4.9 percent, followed by the splinter conservative Bareun Party with 4.8 percent. (Yonhap)

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