Yoon Wraps Up 1st Year in Office amid Signs of Rebounding from Record-low Approval Ratings

SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — President Yoon Suk-yeol is wrapping up his first year in office marked by record-low approval ratings blamable in part on unpopular policy and personnel decisions and a series of gaffes at home and abroad, though the numbers have recently shown signs of picking up.

Yoon’s approval rating plunged from 52 percent in his first week in office to 24 percent in the first week of August, according to Gallup Korea, a number rarely seen during previous presidencies.

His personnel choices were cited as among the biggest factors behind the slide, the pollster said, as controversy erupted over then Education Minister Park Soon-ae’s plan to lower the elementary school entry age to 5.

Yoon had already taken flak for appointing many of his government’s senior officials from among prosecutors. Yoon himself was a prosecutor his entire career until a year before his election.

Around the time of his record-low approval rating, Yoon was also suspected of being behind the ruling People Power Party’s disciplinary action against then party leader Lee Jun-seok, which culminated in the embarrassing disclosure of a text message Yoon sent to then PPP floor leader Kweon Seong-dong and that showed him backbiting about Lee.

But by December, Yoon’s approval ratings started to look up after his tough approach to striking truckers appeared to win public support at a time of mounting economic woes.

According to pollster Gongjung, public support for Yoon stood at 41.5 percent in a survey conducted Dec. 5-6, up 9.1 percentage points from the previous survey conducted Nov. 21-22.

It marked the first time in five months the president’s approval rating broke through the 40 percent threshold, the pollster said.

In a separate Realmeter survey conducted Dec. 5-9, Yoon’s approval rating stood at 38.4 percent, down 0.5 percentage point from the previous week. The decline followed a two-week consecutive climb.

The rise in popularity has been attributed to Yoon’s insistence on principles and the rule of law, values he has championed since before his election in March and throughout his first year in office.

Seo Yo-han, head of Gongjung, said the latest survey result showed public support for Yoon’s stern handling of the recent walkout by cargo truckers.

“The main cause seems to be dealing with the truckers’ walkout in accordance with the law and principles,” Seo said. “Increased approval ratings in the Chungcheong region and those in their 20s and 60s drove the approval rating higher.”

Yoon’s commitment to the law and principles was demonstrated in other areas as well, such as in his handling of North Korea’s nuclear threats and refusal to bow to opposition pressure to fire Interior Minister Lee Sang-min over the government’s bungled response to the Itaewon crowd crush.

A hallmark of the Yoon presidency was his routine Q&A sessions with reporters on his way to work, though they were also blamed for his poor ratings, as his unfiltered and impromptu remarks sometimes left the public with a sense of unease.

Yoon made a considerable effort to connect and communicate with the people, but his relationship with the press was often troubled.

In September, local broadcaster MBC aired a hot mic moment from Yoon’s trip to New York with subtitles that made it appear that Yoon was using vulgar language while talking about U.S. Congress and President Joe Biden.

The audio was hard to hear due to background noise, and the presidential office denied Yoon made any such reference.

Two months later, the office banned MBC reporters from traveling with the president on Air Force One to cover his trip to Southeast Asia.

Shortly after, it indefinitely suspended the doorstepping sessions because an MBC reporter angrily asked a question to the president’s back and got into a heated argument with a presidential secretary.

Yoon’s commitment to connecting with the people was best demonstrated symbolically through his relocation of the presidential office.

In line with his campaign pledge, Yoon moved the office out of Cheong Wa Dae and into what used to be the defense ministry compound in Yongsan, and opened Cheong Wa Dae to the public.

Yoon, who came to power with no previous political experience, had a tense relationship with the opposition bloc throughout the year, as the opposition-controlled National Assembly often refused to cooperate, while the prosecution began or stepped up investigations into associates of both former President Moon Jae-in and main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung.

The Itaewon crowd crush was one of the biggest challenges Yoon faced during the year, as the scale of the tragedy — 158 people killed and dozens more injured — unleashed nationwide soul-searching and a frantic quest for who could be blamed.

In contrast to the many challenges on the domestic front, Yoon navigated his first meetings with foreign leaders with relative ease, starting with a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden in Seoul just 11 days after he took office.

In the months that followed, he held summits with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and numerous other world leaders both during his three overseas trips and in Seoul.

Yoon sought to use those meetings to not only forge a common front against North Korea’s nuclear threats but also to promote South Korean exports, such as in nuclear power and arms, and to seek international support for the country’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo in Busan.

Many did, however, criticize Yoon’s decision not to meet with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during her visit to Seoul in August while he was on vacation.

(Yonhap)