An opinion poll showed that President Lee Myung-bak posted an approval rating under 50 percent just after his inauguration, well below the levels of his two predecessors Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun. However, 47.8 percent of respondents said they would vote for candidates from Lee’s Grand National Party in the April 9 parliamentary election, indicating that the GNP can be expected to see a landslide win over the main opposition United Democratic Party.

In the latest poll, conducted by The Hankyoreh and polling agency Research Plus on March 1, 49.4 percent of respondents said they thought President Lee was doing well in managing the nation, while 23.7 percent said Lee was not. The remaining 26.9 percent either did not answer or said they did not know. The approval rating of former President Roh was 71.4 percent on March 29, 2003, just after his inauguration. And that of former President Kim was 84.8 percent on February 23, 1998, just before his inauguration.

Lee’s lower approval ratings were seen as being related to a series of recent mishaps after some of his minister nominees stepped down over ethical lapses and his transition team’s plan to introduce a system of English-immersion education in the public schools sparked a controversy. The survey found that 51 percent of respondents had negative views of Lee’s new Cabinet lineup, while 32.7 percent gave it a positive review.

While the president’s approval ratings were far below the levels of his predecessors, 47.8 percent said they would support candidates from Lee’s party in the April 9 election, raising the possibility that the conservative GNP will sweep the upcoming election. The approval ratings for the liberal United Democratic Party, a product of a political alliance forged between the United New Democratic Party and the Democratic Party ahead of the April election, were 13.9 percent. That was followed by the Democratic Labor Party with 2.9 percent, the Liberty Forward Party with 1.6 percent and the Creative Korea Party with 1.4 percent. When asked which party they favored, 51.9 percent said they supported the GNP, followed by the UDP with 14.6 percent, the DLP with 4.2 percent, the CKP with 2.8 percent and the LFP with 1.2 percent.

In the April election, 49.8 percent said they thought that GNP candidates should be elected for the stable management of national policy, while 39.4 percent responded that opposition candidates should be elected to keep President Lee and the GNP in check.

The poll of 1,000 adults was taken by telephone and the margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. The full results of the poll can be viewed at www.hani.co.kr.

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