Moon's 5-yr presidency gets 42.1% approval rating

Seoul, Dec 29 (IANS) About 42 per cent of South Koreans think that President Moon Jae-in did a good job in handling state affairs over the past five years in office, an approval rating slighly higher than the vote he received in the 2017 presidential election, a poll revealed on Wednesday.

Moon, who was elected President with 41.1 per cent of the vote, has enjoyed relatively high approval ratings through his term so far, compared with his predecessors, reports Yonhap News Agency.

His single-five year term ends in May after the March 9, 2022 presidential election.

The latest survey of 1,056 adults, conducted by R&Search on Monday and Tuesday, put the approval rating of Moon's five-year performance at 42.1 per cent, while 52 per cent of the respondents disapproved of his job performance.

By age group, people in their 40s and 50s positively responded to Moon's works, while people in their 20s and 60s viewed Moon's works negatively.

The poll showed that 57.2 per cent of people aged 40 and 49 and 45.2 per cent of people aged 50 and 59 approved of the President's jobs.

In comparison, 58.4 per cent of those aged 20-29 and those aged 60 and older disapproved of Moon's work.

His real estate policy was cited as the biggest source of disapproval, with 41.8 per cent of the respondents expressing dissatisfaction over surging home prices.

Moon's nuclear phase-out policy and a recent pardon of former President Park Geun-hye were also included on a list of irritant policies, according to the poll.