Approval rating for Pres. Park plummeted to 56.6% after ferry accident

According to some surveys, the soaring approval rating for President Park Geun-hye has been plummeting since the sinking of the ferry Sewol.

Lee Taek-soo, the head of Korean poll company Realmeter, said via Twitter on Thursday, “The approval rating for President Park increased up to 71 percent after her visit to Jindo, the ferry accident site, but the rating has been dropping since the beginning of this week.” According to Lee, the approval rating for the president has decreased by 14.5 percent only in five days: 67.0 percent on Monday, 61.1 percent on Tuesday and 56.5 percent on Thursday.

Lee said, "The increased approval rating right after the accident reflects people’s hope for (the government) doing its utmost in rescue activities, but the ratings seem to be declining with people’s disappointment at rescue activities.” He added, “The Korean people’s dissatisfaction with the government’s risk management ability is one of the reasons for the drop.” However, Realmeter has not disclosed the details of survey results to this day.