The spread of the Middle East respiratory syndrome further dragged down President Park Geun-hye’s approval ratings last week despite her last-minute decision to delay a planned visit to the United States and her promise to make public safety her priority.
According to Realmeter, a Seoul-based pollster, Park’s job rating saw a sharp decline from 40.3 percent to 34.6 percent last week, the lowest ebb in the past four months. The percentage of respondents who disapproved of her state management also surged 7.5 percentage points to 60.8 percent, it said. The poll was conducted from June 8-12 with 2,500 adults. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.0 percentage points with a confidence level of 95 percent.
“The growing number of MERS deaths and the confirmed cases of the disease as well as the rising concerns that the virus may have transmitted to the general public appear to have played a part in a steep drop in Park’s ratings,” said Realmeter in a statement.
The MERS crisis has also pulled down the popularity of the governing Saenuri Party and its chairman Kim Moo-sung, widely regarded as one of strong contenders for the next presidential race in 2017.
The approval rating for the Saenuri Party fell 1.8 percentage points to 36.5 percent, the lowest mark since it won a landslide victory in the April 29 by-elections, while the rating for the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy rebounded 2.3 percentage points to 30.3 percent.
Kim was ranked second in the list of the most-favored presidential hopefuls, trailing Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, who blasted the central government for keeping the information of hospitals and patients confidential.
By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)
