hankyoreh

President Yoon Suk-yeol reviews materials after speaking at a workshop for Cabinet ministers and vice ministers at the National Human Resources Development Institute in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, on July 22, 2022. (presidential office pool photo)

With President Yoon Suk-yeol’s approval rating plummeting to the low 30% range, the presidential office as well as the ruling camp are racking their brains to come up with ways to rally his polling numbers. The fact that a new administration just over 70 days into its term is recording a support rating in the low to mid 30% range indicates that even those within the president’s conservative support base are souring on Yoon.

According to the results of an opinion poll conducted by Gallup Korea released Friday, only 32% of respondents believed Yoon was doing a good job as president. Meanwhile, Yoon’s disapproval rating increased by 7 percentage points, coming out at 60%.

The poll surveyed 1,000 adults across the country and had a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Especially of note, in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, where Yoon’s approval rating (53%) surpassed his disapproval rating (31%) last week, the president’s disapproval rating jumped to 50%, exceeding his approval rating (45%) in the region. Those within the ruling camp believe this strongly signals that constituents in conservative strongholds are reconsidering their support for Yoon.

Yoon will be marking his 100th day in office on Aug. 17 amid a crisis of faltering momentum for policy initiatives — a situation that may turn out to be burdensome for him. With regular sessions of the National Assembly and the Chuseok holiday upcoming in September and government inspections scheduled for October, those within the ruling camp are arguing that Yoon’s support rating should be resuscitated by whatever means.

An official in the presidential office told the Hankyoreh, “There are concerns that [Yoon’s] support rating may plunge to the 20% range if things go on like this. Although the president says he can only do his best, his advisors are in a position where they must do anything to rally more support for him.”

This is part of the reason why high-ranking officials in the administration as well as ministers have been scrambling to increase their contact with the media.

Faced with a similar situation, previous administrations turned the political tide to their favor through personnel appointments or foreign policy.

In August 2012, then-President Lee Myung-bak hit rock bottom in terms of his support rating (17% according to Gallup Korea) due to the so-called “savings bank scandal.” That year, on Aug. 10, Lee visited Dokdo out of the blue, a move designed to unite his support base by pitting himself against Japan via a spontaneous visit to Dokdo. While ties between South Korea and Japan quickly worsened, Lee’s support rating jumped to 28% four weeks later. Still, Lee was criticized for leveraging diplomacy to turn the political situation in his favor.

Meanwhile, President Moon Jae-in’s administration attempted to turn the political table by reshuffling the Blue House. When Moon’s support rating plummeted in December 2020 due to real estate woes, Moon accepted the resignations of his chief of staff, Noh Young-min, and his senior civil affairs secretary, Kim Jong-ho, in a single day.

However, Yoon is facing a limited array of options. It has only been three months since he appointed advisors and ministers to their posts. Diplomatically, he is somewhat in a bind, as he needs to stick to his keynote of strengthening the South Korea-US alliance.

In terms of South Korea’s ties with Japan, the situation has become rather complicated due to the heightened ultraconservative atmosphere in Japan following the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. In regard to North Korea, tensions are expected to continue, as the administration and the ruling camp are in the process of relitigating the case of the repatriated North Korean fishers.

Some say Yoon may be able to devise a breakthrough by using his authority to give special pardons to mark the National Liberation Day of Korea on Aug. 15. However, if pardons are granted to former President Lee Myung-bak or Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, this strategy will likely only cause Yoon’s support rating to drop even further.

Hence, observers say Yoon needs to fundamentally adjust his attitude towards government operation instead of artificially trying to rally support.

“Some reasons for the president’s falling support rating are his risky messaging and the public’s lack of trust in the new administration,” said Park Sang-byeong, a political commentator. He continued, “The first order of business would be to eliminate these reasons. [Yoon] should change his messaging and shift towards a direction that heightens trust towards the government in order to regain support from reasonable conservatives, moderates, and young constituents — the weak link in his support base.”

By Kim Mi-na, staff reporter

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