President Park Geun-hye and the ruling Saenuri Party's approval rating backtracked, a poll showed Friday, with the public citing a lack of communication as one of the major weaknesses of the incumbent administration.

According to the poll conducted by Gallup Korea, only 30 percent of the respondents gave a nod to Park this week, down 2 percentage points from a week earlier. The survey was conducted on 1,004 South Koreans.

On the other hand, those who expressed discontent against Park came to 58 percent, up 5 percentage points over the cited period.

Among the reasons for their discontent, respondents mostly cited "lack of communication," followed by a lackluster economic policy.

The tension between the presidential office and political parties escalated this week especially with the clash over the status of the song "March for the Beloved" at the ceremony to commemorate the May 18 democracy movement.

Liberal elements and the opposition have favored making the song an official part of the annual event, but conservatives, including the presidential office, remained reluctant to make the change.

The approval rating of the Saenuri Party fell to 29 percent, down 2 percentage points vis-a-vis a week earlier. The numbers are the lowest since the second week of March 2012.

Despite the dip, Saenuri still ranked number one in terms of support it receives from the general public among political parties.

The main opposition Minjoo Party support stood at 26 percent, hitting the highest level it yet reached in 2016. The minor opposition People's Party posted an approval rating of 21 percent, unchanged from the week before. (Yonhap)