Moon's approval rating drops to another record low of 32 pct: Gallup

Seoul (South Korea), April 2: President Moon Jae-in's approval rating has fallen for the third consecutive week, reaching an all-time low of 32 percent, due mainly to his government's unpopular housing policy, a poll showed Friday.
In Gallup Korea's survey of 1,000 adults nationwide conducted from Tuesday through Thursday, only 32 percent gave a positive assessment of Moon's presidency, down 2 percentage points from the previous week and the lowest since his inauguration in 2017.
But 58 percent negatively assessed Moon's presidency, marking a fall of 1 percentage point from a week earlier, the poll said.
Two weeks earlier, Moon's approval and disapproval ratings stood at 37 percent and 55 percent, respectively.
Negative ratings were higher than positive ratings in all age groups, including among those in their 40s, the core support group for the liberal president. Positive ratings from those in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s and older were 25 percent, 36 percent, 43 percent, 36 percent and 26 percent, respectively.
Moon's approval ratings from liberal, moderate and conservative voters were 55 percent, 32 percent and 14 percent, respectively. In Seoul, the president garnered an approval rate of 35 percent.
Forty percent of those who negatively assessed Moon's performance complained about his government's real estate policy, the poll said.
Meanwhile, Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung and former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl were tied for the top spot at 23 percent in Gallup Korea's popularity poll for prospective presidential candidates. Lee Nak-yon, former chairman of the ruling Democratic Party, was a distant third with 7 percent in the poll.
It also found 35 percent of the respondents want a ruling party candidate as winner of the nation's next presidential election slated for March next year, compared with 52 percent supporting a win by an opposition candidate.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, with a confidence level of 95 percent.
Source: Yonhap