French Le Monde Highlights President Moon's Approval Rating Drop: "Ignored by Youth" Analysis

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The French daily Le Monde has drawn attention by focusing on the decline in approval ratings of South Korean President Moon Jae-in toward the end of his term. The outlet diagnosed the cause as "being shunned by the younger generation."

Le Monde reported in an analysis article published on the opinion (idees) page on the 1st (local time), "It was the young people who elected progressive President Moon four years ago, but now this young generation is risking the last year of Moon's single five-year term by allowing the conservative right-wing to come to power."

The media introduced that President Moon's approval rating hit a record low of 29% on April 30 according to Gallup Korea polls, but recovered to 34% on May 21 after his summit meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden.

It then pointed out that compared to when President Moon held an inter-Korean summit with North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang in September 2018, when his approval rating rose to 80%, "there is a big difference."

The reason for the decline in President Moon's approval rating was interpreted as failing to win the hearts of people in their 20s.

The youth are "rejecting the administration because it has failed to meet expectations in the economic sector, lacks persuasiveness on value issues, and has failed in relations with North Korea."

Le Monde also paid attention to the ruling Democratic Party's decline in support among people in their 20s. It analyzed, "Young people in their 20s are greatly disappointed with how the Democratic Party is handling gender issues amid the strong #MeToo movement in South Korea."

It also mentioned criticism that the government and ruling party failed to reduce youth unemployment, could not curb soaring real estate prices, and failed to fulfill the pledge to create a just society after the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye.

It cited as negative factors the resignation of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, who was in charge of prosecutorial reform, due to "an incident involving illegal influence exerted for his family," and the "serious social uproar" caused by employees of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) and some Democratic Party lawmakers engaging in "fraudulent acts using insider information."

Le Monde explained that South Korean youth "question the absolute authority of the '586 generation'?those in their 50s born in the 1960s who attended university in the 1980s" and reported that "the majority of the 586 generation are Democratic Party supporters currently holding power."

It interpreted that "the youth, facing the harsh realities of Korea which they call 'Hell Joseon' themselves, participated in the 'Candlelight Revolution' contributing to the Democratic Party's rise to power, but cannot tolerate the hypocrisy of the 'Kkondae' (older generation with authoritarian attitudes)."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.