Laden with problems

President Lee Jae Myung’s approval ratings fell to 51.1 percent, the lowest since his inauguration, in a poll released Monday by Realmeter. That is a 12.2 percentage point drop in just two weeks from 63.3 percent in the last week of July. The immediate trigger for Lee’s falling numbers was the special pardons granted to Cho Kuk, former leader of the Rebuilding Korea Party. The ruling Democratic Party’s unilateral drive and its leader Jung Chung-rae's dogmatic ways only added to the deteriorating public opinion. [PARK YONG-SEOK]