South Korean President Moon Jae-in's Approval Ratings Fall After Failed US-North Korean Summit On Denuclearization- Poll

South Korean President Moon Jae-in's Approval Ratings Fall After Failed US-North Korean Summit on Denuclearization- Poll

South Korean President Moon Jae-in's drop in approval ratings echoed the population's distrust of the government following unsuccessful talks between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un about the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, a poll released on Thursday showed

TOKYO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th March, 2019) South Korean President Moon Jae-in's drop in approval ratings echoed the population's distrust of the government following unsuccessful talks between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un about the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, a poll released on Thursday showed.

The South Korean pollster Realmeter surveyed about 1,500 adult South Koreans between Monday and Wednesday and found that Moon's approval fell to 45 percent, the lowest it has been since he took office in May 2017.

"This can be explained by the fact that the population is growing increasingly distrustful of the government following the unsuccessful second summit between North Korea and the United States, during which no agreements were made," the pollster said.

Trump and Kim Jong Un met in Hanoi in late February to discuss North Korea's commitment to denuclearize. However, Trump walked away from the meeting abruptly when Kim demanded that the US president lift all sanctions. As a result, no agreements on the issue of denuclearization were signed.

In 2018, Moon's approval ratings increased to over 70 percent following his historic meeting with Kim, the first of three inter-Korean summits. South Koreans expressed optimism about the prospect of a denuclearization of the Korean peninsula which has been divided into two countries with drastically different economic and political systems since 1948.