hankyoreh

President Yoon Suk-yeol reviews papers with nothing printed on them. (provided by the presidential office)

“To let you in on a piece of refreshing news amidst the sweltering heat, it’s only been two months since President Yoon Suk-yeol began his term,” a friend messaged our group chat, sending their regards.

Another friend replied, “Ugh, stop. That makes the heat feel worse.”

When the B-cuts from Yoon and the first lady’s trip to the NATO summit were released, my friends and I immediately knew that the staffer who had picked them was probably a boomer whose sense of humor still remained stuck in the early to mid-1990s. The intended message of the photos seemed as clear as day from the camera’s angle, the lens’ focus. I could feel the effort put in to make the object of the photographs seem cool and hip. The pictures seemed to say, “The president is hard at work as always, the first lady is the pinnacle of elegance, and the two are hip and friendly.”

I doubt the presidential office of the 21st century would have a separate division of staffers bringing the feel of the 20th century to their work. In that case, could it be that someone with the sensibilities of that bygone era is in the president’s inner circle, assisting him from a close distance? Could that person actually be first lady Kim Keon-hee or Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon? If, by any chance, Kim is taking part in the presidential office’s publicity efforts, we may be experiencing more strange and comical instances of time travel like the one inspired by the NATO summit B-cuts in the future.

The president is someone who’s sensitive to compliments. Considering this, we may have gone too far by thrusting him with the unexpected reality of a disapproval rating that’s higher than his approval rating instead of rewarding him with a resurgent approval rating despite the fact that he made such a long work trip to faraway Europe.

If you think about it, he already has a lot of complexes concerning the previous administration. If not, why would he have responded to questions about what he plans to do regarding the health and welfare minister nominee Kim Seung-hee, who is now being investigated by the prosecution service, by saying during his commute on July 4 that he’s “confident [he] selected an impeccable candidate” while adding, entirely out of the blue, that “there’s no comparing [his administration] to the previous administration”?

The following day, he went on the offensive again, asking whether “ministers nominated by the previous administration were ever so outstanding” while talking about education minister nominee Park Soon-ae, whose candidacy has been debated even by those within the ruling camp due to her history with drunk driving. On the same day, he cut off questions rather impatiently and even waved his finger emotionally, taunting reporters to dare compare his administration to those that came before it.

“Approval ratings are meaningless. I only think of the people,” he said, acting unbothered, but every member of the public witnessed how a single day of low approval ratings had clearly gotten under his skin.

The president’s strong suit has got to be his quick decision-making skills and executive initiative, assets he must have honed since his days as a prosecutor, but it’s regrettable that those strengths don’t seem to be making a difference in his disordered personnel choices and poor vetting ability. During the appointment ceremony for the education minister, who the president appointed without even a confirmation hearing at the National Assembly, the president said to the minister, “You were in hot water due to attacks from the media and the opposition,” adding, “Follow your conviction,” as if driving in a nail. Whatever she was feeling, the newly appointed minister couldn’t even look the president in the eye.

The president has failed to form a full-fledged Cabinet for over two months, neither properly filtering out disqualified candidates nor successfully pressuring them to tap out. His tendency to mix private matters with public concerns has constantly been a source of trouble.

When it was revealed that the wife of the senior secretary to the president for personnel affairs accompanied the president and his wife during their trip abroad, the presidential office first explained that she had played the role of an “unpaid volunteer,” only to change its tune later on, stating that she actually “planned and supported the entire schedule” of the president and the first lady.

What kind of volunteer plans and supports the tour schedule of a president? The president has to recognize that forcing things his way and then covering them up is what’s been causing him so many scuffles. He should focus on substance by bringing together a decent advising staff and listening to their counsel instead of dragging in his personal connections to his work, anxious to package himself with a flashy exterior.

Although having an opponent is inevitable in politics, one cannot do politics solely by focusing on one’s opponent. It seems that the reference group and the reference figure President Yoon is solely focused on are the previous administration and former President Moon Jae-in, respectively — so much so that even those in the ruling party are criticizing the president on this very point.

People Power Party spokesperson Park Min-young stated, “While the answer that ‘even the Democratic Party did so-and-so’ can work to silence the Democratic Party, it cannot be an answer to questions from the public.” If things keep going on like this, the president may soon be saying things like, “The previous administration blamed everything on the administration that came before it as well,” or, “Moon Jae-in blamed Park Geun-hye to a greater degree than I am blaming Moon Jae-in.”

Sometimes I wonder: Does the president still think he’s fighting the previous administration? If he is still confused about this point, I would like to offer him this clarification: You already won the fight against the previous administration, and it’s time for us to move on.

By Kim So-hee, opinion writer

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]