South Korea's ruling Liberty Korea Party, which has been facing a political crisis after the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, on Wednesday expressed hope on what it calls "shy conservatives," claiming opinion polls do not fully reflect the underlying public sentiment.

According to the latest poll conducted by Realmeter, the main opposition Democratic Party posted an all-time high approval rating of 47.7 percent last week. The Liberty Korea Party managed to post 15.1 percent, followed by the People's Party with 11.5 percent.
 

Rep. Yoo Ki-june of the ruling party argued more than half of the respondents of the existing polls are "left-leaning," claiming the numbers do not clearly reflect the overall picture.

"The opposition bloc's presidential hopefuls show a combined approval rating of 60 percent, hovering far above the ruling bloc's 20 percent. The opposition bloc holds a much higher figure compared with the traditional conservative-progressive split," Yoo said, hinting that survey numbers are distorted.

The party official claimed US President Donald Trump was elected based on hidden supporters, arguing the Liberty Korea Party still has a chance in the next presidential election.

An official from the Realmeter also said the "shy conservative" theory is not groundless, claiming polls showed 20 percent of South Koreans were against the impeachment of Park even when her nominal approval rating stood around 5 percent.

"Considering the gap between Park's approval rating and the people opposing the impeachment, we can say there are at least around 10 to 15 percentage points of hidden conservatives," said Lee Taek-soo, who heads Realmeter. (Yonhap)