S.Korean president’s approval rating falls to new record low at 4 pct
SEOUL, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) — South Korean President Park Geun-hye saw her approval rating fall to a new record low, dragging down the support for the ruling Saenuri Party.
According to a weekly survey by Gallup Korea released on Friday, only 4 percent of respondents supported Park, posting the lowest for any South Korean president.
Approval scores for Park were down from 5 percent, which the first South Korean female leader had maintained in the previous three weeks.
Park was identified on Sunday by prosecutors as an accomplice to Choi Soon-sil, Park’s decades-long friend who was indicted for multiple counts including abuse of power and extortion.
Prosecutors repeatedly requested a face-to-face questioning of the embattled president, but Park’s attorney said the chief executive will reject any interrogation demand down the road.
In her second public apology earlier this month, Park said she will accept a direct investigation into herself. The acceptance is believed to have been advised by Choi Jae-kyung, new senior presidential secretary on civil affairs in charge of monitoring prosecutors, police and the spy agency.
Park’s lawyer, however, reversed the recommendation and rejected the interrogation call. Park’s counsel, former prosecutor, said the president will accept the questioning by a special prosecutor, who is forecast to launch an independent investigation into the case next month.
The senior presidential advisor on civil affairs and Justice Minister Kim Hyun-woong reportedly submitted their resignations to President Park earlier this week, but Park hasn’t decided yet on whether to accept the resignations.
Prosecutors are currently focusing on bribery allegations that some of conglomerates donated tens of millions of U.S. dollars to two nonprofit foundations controlled by Choi Soon-sil in return for receiving business favors.
President Park logged a zero support among voters in their 20s and 30s. The approval rating in the North Gyeongsang province, a political home turf for Park and her ruling party, plunged to 3 percent. It was lower than the average approval scores.
With the falling popularity of the president, support for Park’s ruling Saenuri Party tumbled to 12 percent, the lowest since it was created in 1997.
The biggest opposition Minjoo Party ranked first with a support score of 34 percent, followed by the casting vote-wielding opposition People’s Party with 16 percent.
Division within the Saenuri Party deepens as some of former and incumbent lawmakers seceded from the party earlier this week. The party leadership has rejected calls for resignation, made by many of non-President Park faction members.
Kim Moo-sung, former chairman of the governing party, declared a plan this week to join a campaign by three main opposition parties to impeach President Park.
An impeachment motion requires at least two-thirds of the 300-seat National Assembly to be passed through the parliament. Around 40 legislators in the ruling party, which has 128 parliamentary seats, decided to vote for the impeachment, according to local media reports.