Moon's approval rating climbs to five-week high

SEOUL, June 18 (Yonhap) -- President Moon Jae-in's approval rating reached a five-week high last week while that of the ruling Democratic Party reached a record high, a poll showed Monday.

In the weekly poll conducted by Realmeter, Moon's approval rating came to 75.9 percent last week, up 3.6 percentage points from a week earlier.

The latest reading was the highest since 76.3 percent posted in the second week of May.

Moon's approval rating has remained well over the 70 percent mark since his first historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, held April 27. The two met again at the border village of Panmunjom on May 26.

Last week's sharp increase was partly attributed to the overwhelming victory of his ruling Democratic Party in the local elections and parliamentary by-elections.

The ruling party swept 14 out of the total 17 top administrative posts in provincial and metropolitan city governments, while also taking 11 out of the 12 parliamentary seats up for grabs.

The Democratic Party's approval rating came to 57 percent last week, surging 3.2 percentage points from the previous week and reaching a record high, according to the local pollsters.

The approval rating of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party slipped 0.8 point to 17.6 percent while those of the splinter Bareunmirae Party and the minor opposition Party of Democracy and Peace inched down 0.4 percentage point each to 5.4 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively.

The approval rating of the progressive Justice Party remained unchanged at 6.9 percent.

bdk@yna.co.kr
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