[The Editors' Verdict] Wrong Then, Right Now: Why?

Like Dangdang Chicken Winning Public Support
The Fate of the Yoon Government Depends on Public Sentiment

[Asia Economy Reporter Nam Seung-ryul] Even foreign media have finally taken notice. On the 23rd (local time), Bloomberg News reported that in South Korea this year, chicken prices have risen sharply compared to other foods in the so-called ‘Chicken-inflation,’ and that large discount stores’ ‘ultra-low-priced chicken’ has captured consumers’ hearts. However, as Bloomberg also pointed out, no matter how hot the ultra-low-priced chicken craze is, it is insufficient to ease high inflation. The nationwide monthly chicken sales amount to about 610 billion won, but the ultra-low-priced chicken sales of the three major discount stores amount to only tens of billions of won. Still, Bloomberg analyzed that "chicken franchise companies must be feeling strong pressure to lower prices or at least find it difficult to raise them further."

Nam Seung-ryul

Although Koreans’ ‘love for chicken’ is special, it is unusual for foreign media to cover related content. It cannot be seen simply as a victory of the large discount stores’ ‘Low ball technic’ strategy (meaning throwing the ball low at first to make the body bend, a technique that shows customers cheap products first to induce them to buy more expensive ones). If that were the case, the large discount stores’ ultra-low-priced chicken, represented by ‘Dangdang Chicken,’ would be following in the footsteps of ‘Tongkeun Chicken,’ which exited 10 years ago due to the ‘alleyway commercial district infringement’ logic.

There is a separate reason why chicken franchises and self-employed business owners cannot strongly oppose and are suffering silently. The essence of this chicken price war is that public sentiment, suffering from high inflation, has moved and highlighted consumers’ right to choose. The support of public sentiment is that strong. There is inevitably less room for political logic to intervene than during the Tongkeun Chicken era.

The Yoon Seok-yeol administration, which breathed a sigh of relief after its approval rating plummeted to a historic low less than 100 days after taking office, should pay attention to the essence of this chicken price war. After all, the fate of the administration is also tied to the direction of public sentiment. President Yoon, who had been avoiding the public sentiment-reflecting approval rating surveys, showed a changed attitude at the 100-day press conference held on the 17th at the presidential office building in Yongsan, Seoul. President Yoon stated, "I will not miss a single breath of the people and will faithfully carry out the will of the people without deviating even an inch."

The causes of the sharp decline in support for the Yoon administration, which are visible on the surface, include appointments in the ‘prosecutor republic,’ damage to the value of fairness, and controversies surrounding First Lady Kim Keon-hee. However, the essence can be summarized as the backlash from favoritism and double standards. In particular, it is curious how many people can openly give President Yoon harsh criticism.

Brilliant investigations or pledges alone are not enough. It is important to establish a system to support this. For example, like in the military or companies, there is a need to form a ‘Red Team.’ This is a virtual enemy that attacks the weaknesses inside the company or among allies to find improvement measures. The Roman Catholic ‘Devil’s Advocate’ system has a similar purpose to the Red Team. The mission of those called ‘Promoter of the Faith’ is to point out flaws and present opposing opinions from the devil’s perspective regarding the virtues of candidates for sainthood and the evaluation that they performed miracles.

There are still ministerial positions that the Yoon administration has yet to fill. We do not expect moving appointments. We hope to see somewhat different appointments that will not cause public sentiment to turn its back.

Nam Seung-ryul, Head of Issue Investigation Department

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