New South Korean president unfazed by plummeting approval ratings
President Yoon Suk-yeol has shrugged off the decline in his approval ratings, but as they fall below 30 per cent, he faces an uphill battle if he wants to get public opinion on his side.
According to a poll released by Gallup Korea on Friday, which surveyed 1,000 people from July 26-28, only 28 per cent of the respondents said Yoon was doing well.
Personnel management accounts for the biggest part of the decline in approval ratings.
Alongside his cabinets dominated by former prosecutors and figures embroiled in personal scandals, the “unfair” hiring of his and first lady Kim Keon-hee’s acquaintances in the presidential office caused controversy several times. Whenever criticism was made, Yoon and his office refused to apologise, denouncing the media for taking issue with it.
In the second and third weeks of July, the decline seemed to be slowing, with a positive evaluation holding up at an already low 32 per cent.
At the time, he refrained from speaking during regular morning press briefings – where he often made gaffes – and his spouse Kim also refrained from public activities.
However, as a text message between Yoon and his closest aide Kweon Seong-dong, floor leader of the ruling People Power Party, was caught on press cameras, controversy erupted again. The text message showed Yoon saying he was happy with the change in the party’s leadership and took a swipe at suspended party leader Lee Jun-seok.
“To recover public trust, Yoon should apologise in a press conference after returning from vacation and reshuffle his Cabinet,” he said. “Yoon can regain the people’s trust with these measures because he is a political novice and is still in the early stages of state administration.”
The 61-year-old former public prosecutor took over from Moon Jae-in on May 10, 2022.
The Korea Herald
Asia News Network
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