Pollster Gallup Korea surveyed 1,000 adults earlier this week and found that 77 percent of respondents evaluated disgraced former President Yoon Suk Yeol as the worst, with his shortcomings outweighing his accomplishments more than any other past South Korean president.
Yoon is currently on trial over his Dec. 3 declaration of martial law last year, which plunged the country into political turmoil. He was ousted from office in April this year after the Constitutional Court upheld his impeachment.
Yoon was followed by strongman Chun Doo-hwan at 68 percent, who seized power through a military coup in 1980; Park Geun-hye, the country's first female president, at 65 percent, who was ousted in 2017 over a corruption scandal; and Chun's successor Roh Tae-woo at 50 percent, who served from 1988 to 1993 and was later imprisoned for corruption and mutiny.
Other former presidents such as Lee Myung-bak, Moon Jae-in, and Syngman Rhee also received unfavorable assessments, with their negative ratings hovering around 40 percent.
Roh received the most favorable rating at 68 percent, with only 15 percent viewing him negatively.
He was followed by Park Chung-hee at 62 percent, who led the country's rapid industrialization in the 1960s and 1970s; Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kim Dae-jung at 60 percent; and Kim Young-sam, the country's first civilian president, at 42 percent.
Gallup Korea said that since its first survey in 2012, there have been slight shifts in evaluations of some leaders, with Kim Young-sam and Lee receiving more positive views, suggesting a reassessment of their legacies.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.
