Support wanes as Lee marks 3rd year in office

Posted on : 2011-02-22 14:29 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Polls indicate that citizens want President Lee to improve economic performance

By Ahn Chang-hyun, Staff Writer 
  
As the Lee Myung-bak administration marks its third year, its faces falling support.
According to a recent poll by the Kookmin Ilbo and the Korea Society Opinion Institute (reported Tuesday), more respondents felt Lee was mishandling state affairs than doing well, 51.4 percent to 42.0 percent. In particular, Lee was elected after campaigning as the “Economy President,” but only 8.4 percent of respondents said their household situation has improved over the last three years. The overwhelming majority said it had deteriorated (38.4 percent) or remained about the same (52.9 percent). A similar number of respondents said they would support the ruling party (43.5 percent) and opposition party (43.4 percent) during next April’s general election. Also similar was the number of people who would support the GNP candidate (38.6 percent) and opposition candidate (40.6 percent) during the next presidential election.
According to monthly polls by the Korea Society Opinion Institute, support for Lee’s handling of national affairs has continuously declined since the 2008 candlelight vigil demonstrations against resumed U.S. beef imports. In October of last year, the number of those who think he was doing poorly edged slightly in front of those who thought he was doing well, and the trend has continued through last month.
In a poll by the Joongang Ilbo asking about Lee’s handling of national affairs over the last three years, 53.6 percent said he has done poorly, while 44.7 percent said he has done well. A poll by the Korea Economic Daily found 55.0 percent felt he was doing poorly, while 33.8 felt he was doing well, and even bigger gap. Over half of the respondents (54.6 percent) felt their household situations had grown worse. Only 29.4 percent and 14.4 percent, respectively, responded that there had been no change or things had improved. When asked which area Lee had done poorly in over the last three years, 26.8 percent - the largest share - said the economy. In a Dong-A Ilbo poll, however, slightly more respondents said Lee has done well (47.3 percent) than he has done poorly (45.4 percent).
Voters responded coolly to the GNP’s debate regarding constitutional reform. In the Kookmin Ilbo poll, the overwhelming majority (79.4 percent) felt Lee should focus on economic management, including prices, during his remaining two years in office. On the other hand, just 5.0 percent felt he should focus on political reform like constitutional reform. In the Dong-A Ilbo, too, 28.0 percent - the largest total - felt he should concentrate on economic growth, followed by relations with North Korea (18.8 percent) and reducing the gap between rich and poor (18.2 percent), while coming in at the bottom was political reform (4.7 percent).
  
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