Approval Ratings: Yoon Silent on Unfavorable Questions Including Lee Jun-seok... "Missed Opportunity to Reverse Public Opinion"

Experts on Yoon's 100-Day Inauguration Press Conference: "Honest Explanation, but No Alternatives or Vision Shown" Evaluation

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] President Yoon Suk-yeol avoided answering questions related to approval ratings, personnel appointments, and conflicts with former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok during a press conference held to mark his 100th day in office. This contrasted with his detailed explanation of government achievements in his opening remarks. Experts pointed out that President Yoon’s silence on points of criticism and recent political issues failed to fully satisfy public curiosity. It is evaluated that he missed an opportunity to reverse the approval ratings.

At the press conference on the 17th, the media was keenly interested in what President Yoon would say about former leader Lee. Lee strongly opposed the transition to the People Power Party’s emergency committee system, and coincidentally, a court hearing for Lee’s injunction request against the party was scheduled for that afternoon. Above all, President Yoon’s so-called 'internal criticism' text message leak incident was the catalyst for the transition to the emergency committee, so there were demands even within the ruling party for President Yoon to clarify his position at least once.

However, when asked about his thoughts on Lee’s attacks, President Yoon replied that he did not know the details. He explained, "As president, I have been focused on stabilizing people’s livelihoods and ensuring public safety, so I have not had the opportunity to properly follow what political remarks other politicians have made." He added, "Please consider that from the election campaign last year until now, I have never commented or expressed my position on other politicians’ political remarks." This effectively indicated that he would not make any remarks regarding former leader Lee.

Experts criticized the president’s claim of 'not knowing' about the ruling party’s turmoil as an incomprehensible answer. Political commentator Lee Jong-hoon said, "Since the president’s thoughts were roughly confirmed through the text message scandal, this kind of response gives the impression of excessively avoiding the issue," adding, "If there had been an explanation or a message promising that such incidents would not happen again, it could have been an opportunity to reverse public opinion." Choi Jin, director of the Presidential Leadership Research Institute, also evaluated, "It would have been better if the president had honestly explained the difficulties or unavoidable circumstances and sought cooperation," adding, "There was a lack of straightforwardness from the public’s perspective."

President Yoon also avoided direct answers regarding the decline in government approval ratings and personnel issues. When a reporter pointed out that personnel problems were cited as the biggest cause of rising negative evaluations, President Yoon responded, "I believe personnel reshuffles should not be done with political objectives such as political phase changes or approval rating rebounds." Regarding improvement plans, he only said, "We are identifying where the problems were," without revealing specific reform measures.

In response, commentator Lee pointed out, "If the president recognizes that approval ratings are falling and public dissatisfaction is high, there should have been a public apology and personnel reforms should have been demonstrated through actions." Director Choi said, "There should have been proposals such as broadening the talent pool or drastically changing the criticized personnel, but there was no concrete plan on how to do so."

President Yoon said he would continue his trademark morning Q&A sessions (doorstepping). He explained that moving the presidential office to Yongsan was to facilitate 'direct communication' and that he would accept sharp criticism and various feedback from the public. However, experts warn that if President Yoon continues to avoid unfavorable questions as he does now, the purpose of communication will inevitably be undermined. Commentator Lee said, "Although some immaturity was revealed, doorstepping is a form of communication that shows a willingness to improve problems," adding, "However, if it only repeats general statements, it is naturally difficult to expect a turnaround."

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