The public support rates for South Korean President Lee Myung-bak have plummeted to the low-20-percent range in various media polls released on Monday, Yonhap reported.
According to the polls conducted Saturday by major Korean newspapers, Lee's approval ratings were in the range between 19.7 percent and 22.9 percent even before his 100th day in office later this week.
Lee's predecessors, Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Dae-jung, had enjoyed approval ratings of 40 to 50 percent and 80 percent respectively when they marked their 100th day in office.
In a poll of 1,015 adults conducted by the Chosun Ilbo and Gallup Korea on May 31, Lee's approval rating was 21.2 percent, plummeting from 52 percent in early March. A similar survey by theDong-a Ilbo and Korea Research put the rating at 22.9 percent, compared with 52.7 percent two months earlier, Yonhap reported.
Separate polls by the Hankyoreh, the Kyunghang Shinmun and the Kookmin Ilbo all showed his approval ratings in the 22 percent range. In particular, Lee's approval rating was 19.7 percent in the JoongAng Ilbo's survey of 1,090 adults, compared with his predecessor Roh's all-time record low of 18.7 percent.
Analysts said that Lee's diving approval ratings are largely attributed to his administration's unilateral decision to push ahead with the planned but controversial resumption of U.S. beef imports amid the growing public fear of mad cow disease.
Source: Xinhua
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