Park's approval rating edges up to 39 pct

President Park Geun-hye's job approval rating has edged up slightly, a poll showed Friday, despite a bribery scandal involving some of her key aides.

A poll conducted by polling agency Gallup Korea put Park's approval rating at 39 percent this week, up four percentage points from a week earlier.

Park's job approval rating has been on the rise since mid-April, when the country was engulfed in the scandal sparked by a "bribery list" left behind by a businessman who committed suicide.

The memo listed the names of the then prime minister and seven other high-profile politicians the businessman claimed to have bribed. All but one of the people listed on the memo are close associates of the president.

Earlier this week, Park called for a thorough probe into the scandal in a message read by her senior press secretary.

Park could not appear in public due to an illness. She has been recovering at her official residence from ill health caused by fatigue since April 27, when she returned from her four-nation trip to South America.

Fifty-two percent of the respondents disapproved of Park's job performance, down five percentage points from a week earlier, while 9 percent had no opinion, according to Gallup Korea.

The poll was conducted on 1,005 adults between Tuesday and Thursday by telephone and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

(Yonhap)