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| President Yoon Suk-yeol listens to a briefing during a National Security Council meeting at the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of presidential office |
By Nam Hyun-woo
President Yoon Suk-yeol's dismal approval rating has stopped sinking to new lows as the latest poll shows it began to rebound, albeit slightly, thanks to his emphasis on the public's livelihood and reforming the presidential office.
According to a Realmeter poll released on Monday, Yoon's job approval rating stood at 32.2 percent, up 1.8 percentage points from a week ago. A total of 2,011 people were surveyed from Aug. 16 to 19. The poll was requested by Media Tribune and further details are available on the websites of the polling agency and the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.
It was the second consecutive week that the president's approval rating inched up. In Realmeter's weekly surveys, Yoon's rating fell from 33.4 percent in the second week of July to 29.3 percent in the first week of this month.
"It remains to be seen whether this trend will lead to a full-scale recovery, but it seems that the rating has already bottomed out and is now bouncing back," an official at Realmeter said.
The uptrend came after Yoon held a press conference last week to mark his first 100 days in office, in which the president promoted his administration's achievements during the period and took questions from reporters on pending issues.
The press conference was viewed as being relatively successful, with Yoon responding to sensitive questions in a smooth but refined manner, contrary to his straightforward and bold remarks in daily Q&A sessions with reporters on his way to the office before he took a weeklong summer break earlier this month.
After returning to work after his vacation, Yoon has put a lot of emphasis on the public's livelihood, concentrating on a fast recovery from the record-breaking downpours that ripped through Seoul and its suburbs, displacing hundreds of citizens, two weeks ago.
Against this backdrop, Yoon and his aides are striving to keep up the momentum in regaining the public's trust in the administration by cooperating with the opposition bloc and reshuffling the presidential office and the Cabinet.
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| Police officers guard a road near former President Moon Jae-in's residence in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, Monday, where protests within 300 meters of the fence of Moon's residence were banned. Yonhap |
On Sunday, the Presidential Security Service announced an expansion of the guard zone for former President Moon Jae-in's residence in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, which would effectively ban protests involving threats and noise. This was seen as a step toward unity with the opposition bloc, whose lawmakers have been crying foul over the protests.
It was reported that the presidential office is planning a luncheon between Yoon and the chairs of National Assembly's committees this week. Since 11 out of 18 committees are headed by lawmakers from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, the move is also interpreted as Yoon's attempt to reach out to the opposition camp for cooperation.
Also on Sunday, Yoon launched a shakeup of the presidential office, setting up a new post of senior presidential secretary for policy planning and replacing his senior secretary for public relations. This was seen as Yoon's response to criticism that the president's choices of secretaries are questionable and have been one of the main reasons for his faltering job approval ratings.
With Yoon's job approval rating showing signs of recovering, the presidential office is carefully vetting the candidates for health and education ministers. The two posts have been headaches for Yoon as the candidates resigned after stirring up controversies over their past wrongdoings. Former Education Minister Park Soon-ae left the post in disgrace after her hasty proposal to lower the primary school entry age.
"The office is now making utmost efforts to find the right candidate, as another failure in naming those ministers will deal a heavy blow to the approval rating of the president," an official at the presidential office said.
Currently, former lawmaker Na Kyung-won is being mentioned as the leading candidate for new health minister, and Seoul National University Prof. Na Seung-il is rumored as the choice to be the new education minister.
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