President Park Geun-hye’s job approval rating has tumbled to the lowest level since she took office nearly two years ago, a new poll said Friday.
The survey found 35 percent of those polled approved of the way Park has been handling her job while 55 percent were unhappy with her job performance and 11 percent had no opinion, according to Gallup Korea.
The worst showing is widely seen as a public backlash over a series of scandals involving former and current aides of Park.
The poll results came four days after Park held a televised news conference in which she rejected a key opposition demand that she fire three key aides accused by critics of exercising undue influence over the running of state affairs.
On Monday, Park stood by the three aides whom she described as hard workers. She has also said investigations found no wrongdoings by the three aides.
Still, she offered an apology for causing public concerns over the leak of a presidential document that has sparked a political firestorm over allegations that one of her former aides tried to exert undue influence on state affairs.
Among those who disapproved of Park’s performance, 19 percent blamed Park for lack of communication and 13 percent said she had problems in handling personnel in the presidential office, according to the poll, Park has long been branded by her critics as “uncommunicative”
for allegedly refusing to listen to what critics and others have to say and insisting only on what she believes to be right.
Gallup Korea said it questioned 1,002 adults between Tuesday and Thursday, with the poll having a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. (Yonhap)
