Yoon Seeks Lost Public Support in 'Economy'... Ministers Begin Private Briefings

President Yoon's Approval Rating Drops Due to 'Personnel' Issues; Government Focuses on Reviving Economy with 'Austerity' Measures

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating has reached the 30% range for the first time in two months since his inauguration. According to the 'Presidential Job Performance Evaluation for the First Week of July' released by Gallup Korea on the 8th, the percentage of respondents who said President Yoon is "performing his duties well" was only 37%. Considering that the political circles regard a support base of 40% as necessary for smooth state administration, it appears that the presidential office will focus on finding momentum for a rebound.

First, starting tomorrow, President Yoon will receive the first work reports from each ministry since the government’s launch and confirm department-specific strategies for managing the livelihood economy. Beginning with the Ministry of Economy and Finance (on the 11th), the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (on the 12th), and the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Employment and Labor (on the 15th) will present their reports. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho will be the first to report.

According to a presidential office official, the Yoon administration’s work reports are conducted in a format where the minister meets the president privately to report. The official explained the reporting style, saying, "We emphasized changing the style to practical reporting," and added, "One additional person among vice ministers or directors will join from the ministry, and from the presidential office, the Chief of Staff and relevant senior secretaries will attend."

The work reports will cover core tasks of each ministry, including national agenda and livelihood measures. Discussions will also include public institution innovation, committee reorganization, and regulatory innovation. The official added, "In the midst of a complex crisis, the work reports are being prepared not as a department store-style listing or a rosy blueprint vision declaration event, but as a time to intensely consider key policies and regulatory innovation and to seek concrete execution strategies."

It is also reported that ministries will not prepare presentation (PT) materials. Instead, ministers will focus on deeply understanding and mastering their departments’ work to create and present various policy alternatives. The official said, "It will be a time for the president and ministers to communicate and share awareness about each ministry’s reform tasks and pressing issues," and added, "It marks the starting point of the 'responsible minister system,' where each minister holds real authority and responsibility and is accountable for results."

Although the approval rating is unlikely to sharply reverse through the departmental work reports and the emergency economic livelihood meetings directly attended by the president, once the personnel issues?the biggest cause of the approval rating decline?are resolved, the 'economic focus' approach can lay the foundation for a rebound.

On the 8th, presiding over the emergency economic livelihood meeting, President Yoon stated, "We are currently facing a global economic crisis," and indicated the direction of government operations by saying, "Tightening in the public sector is inevitable." He emphasized that the budget secured through austerity will be used to restore the livelihood economy, saying, "The more difficult the economy, the more the common people and vulnerable groups are hit, so we must devote ourselves to stabilizing livelihoods," and urged all ministers, "We must all steel ourselves with extraordinary resolve."

Meanwhile, in response to reporters’ questions about the presidential office’s stance on the "approval rating falling to the 30% range," the office stated, "There is no change in the point that we are focused solely on the people," and added, "Whether the approval rating goes up or down, we always interpret it as the people's will to work harder and pay close attention."

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