Park's approval rating edges down amid history textbook row

President Park Geun-hye's job approval rating edged down on the back of controversy over the government's decision to adopt a single set of history textbooks for middle and high school students, a poll showed Monday.

A poll released by polling agency Realmeter showed that 46.9 percent of people approved of Park's job performance, down 1.1 percentage points from a week earlier.

Those who disapproved came to 48.7 percent, up 1.7 percentage points from a week earlier.

The Ministry of Education said earlier this month that history textbooks for middle and high school students will be authored by the government starting in the 2017 school year to address what the government calls predominantly left-leaning content in the current books. The move stirred heated controversies among political parties, historians and the general public.

Separately, 20.9 percent supported Kim Moo-sung, chairman of the ruling Saenuri Party, as a potential presidential candidate.

Moon Jae-in, head of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, came in second with 17.8 percent.

The survey was conducted on 2,584 adults from Oct. 19-23 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points. (Yonhap)