President Park’s mishandling of comfort women issue leads to climbing disapproval

Posted on : 2016-01-10 11:35 KST Modified on : 2016-01-10 11:35 KST
Latest Gallup poll shows disapproval rating at 53%; 56% of respondents call comfort women settlement a “mistake”
South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pose for a photo during their first summit since their inaugurations
South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pose for a photo during their first summit since their inaugurations

President Park Geun-hye is the subject of growing negative opinion over her administration’s handling of an agreement with Japan on the comfort women issue, a recent poll finds.

A Gallup Korea survey of 1,021 adults nationwide on Jan. 5 and 7 showed the number of people rating Park’s performance favorably down to 40% from 43% three weeks earlier, while the number rating it negatively jumped from 46% to 53%.

This marks the first time more than half of respondents held negative opinions on Park’s performance since just after an inter-Korean agreement on Aug. 25 of last year. Negative opinions were highest among respondents in their twenties (73%) and thirties (81%).

The big reason for the spike appears to be unhappiness with the administration’s handling of the comfort women issue, with the agreement listed by respondents alongside traditional factors such as “lack of communication” and “failure to honor pledges” as one of the top reasons for holding a negative opinion.

Indeed, only 26% of respondents said the agreement with Japan was “well handled,” while 56% called it “a mistake” and 20% declined to offer an assessment. An overwhelming 72% also said a statue of a young girl symbolizing the comfort women that currently sits in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul should not be relocated, regardless of whether Tokyo follows through on the agreement. In contrast, just 17% said the statue could be moved if Japan fulfills its part of the deal.

The issue of the statue has been a source of controversy since the time of the agreement, when Seoul stated that it would “make efforts” to relocate it in response to complaints from Tokyo.

72% of respondents said they did not feel the Japanese government had apologized on the comfort women issue, in contrast with 19% who reported feeling that it had. 58% supported demands from civil society for renegotiation, while 28% expressed opposition.

Park’s ruling Saenuri Party came out on top with 35% of the vote when respondents were asked which party they would support in this year’s parliamentary elections. In second place was a new party formed by lawmaker and software mogul Ahn Cheol-soo at 21%, followed by The Minjoo Party of Korea (TMPK) at 19%. The Justice Party earned 2% of votes, while a new party under lawmaker Chun Jung-bae drew 1%.

The survey was conducted through telephone interviews using mobile phone numbers randomly selected and dialed from a sample frame. The margin of error was ±3.1 percentage points with a 95% confidence level and a 23% rate of response.

By Hwang Joon-bum, staff reporter

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