The main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea pulled ahead of the ruling Saenuri Party in approval ratings for the second week.

The Saenuri Party and President Park Geun-hye suffered a continuous decline in ratings in their stronghold Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province.

Local pollster Realmeter said the Minjoo Party had an approval rating of 31.5 percent among 2,536 surveyed respondents from April 18-22. The Saenuri fell behind by 3.4 percentage points at 28.1 percent.

In Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, the Saenuri Party collected 47.5 percent, a 1 percentage point drop from the week before. The party had suffered a 3 percentage point decline in the previous week as well.
Approval ratings for President Park also dropped by 0.1 percentage point to 31.4 percent, while negative assessment rose by 1.2 percentage points to 63.5 percent.

Park’s negative evaluation exceeded positive ones in Daegu and North Gyeongsang region -- 49.2 percent to 46.6 percent -- for the first time in 15 months.

Park’s approval ratings dropped more significantly by 8.8 percentage points to 34.1 percent in Daejeon, Sejong and Chungcheong regions.

The Minjoo Party, meanwhile, maintained its slight lead since the April 13 general election, and marked another 1.1 percentage point increase. The gap between the Saenuri and the Minjoo, however, is within the margin of error.

Among the potential presidential candidates, the Minjoo Party’s former chairman Rep. Moon Jae-in kept his lead at 27 percent. He topped the list in all regions except in Gwangju and Jeolla provinces, the original stronghold for his party that mostly elected People’s Party candidates this time. People’s Party’s co-chief Rep. Ahn Cheo-soo beat Moon in the region with 31.4 percent but his overall popularity dropped slightly to 18.4 percent.

Following Moon and Ahn were the Saenuri Party’s Oh Se-hoon and Kim Moo-sung, although both marked small declines in ratings.

Alarmed by the election defeat and reeling under low approval ratings, Cheong Wa Dae has indicated the president would broaden her means of communication. On Tuesday, Park is to hold talks with 46 chief editors of the country’s leading newspapers and TV stations, the second such meeting since her inauguration in 2013.

Sources from Cheong Wa Dae said Park is also mulling holding talks with chiefs of major parties soon.

“It will be important to expand the scope of dialogue starting with the media and continue to create common ground to promote consistent reforms to break through the structure of low growth,” a presidential official said.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)