Approval Rating Recovers to 40%: Yoon Confident in Governance... Next Year's Work Report Also 'For the People'

President Yoon's Approval Rating Recovers to 40% After 24 Weeks
Live Broadcast National Task Review Meeting Analyzes Public Response

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] President Yoon Seok-yeol is accelerating his administration's operations, buoyed by a rising approval rating. Starting with the 2023 annual work report scheduled for this week, a new format called the "public reporting method" will be introduced to increase direct communication with the public. It is observed that the live-broadcasted public national agenda review meeting, which attracted public attention despite parliamentary conflicts, confirmed that it can provide momentum for government administration.

According to the regular public opinion poll conducted by Realmeter on the 19th (commissioned by Media Tribune, surveying 2,509 adults nationwide aged 18 and over from the 12th to the 16th, using 97% wireless and 3% wired automated phone response method, with a response rate of 3.3% and a sampling error of ±2.0 percentage points at a 95% confidence level), President Yoon's approval rating rose by 2.7% from the previous week to 41.1%. This marks the first time in 24 weeks that the approval rating has surpassed the 40% mark since reaching 44.4% in the fifth week of June.

Negative evaluations that the government is performing poorly dropped by 2.0 percentage points from the previous week to 56.8%. Realmeter analyzed that the increase in President Yoon's approval rating was driven by gains among the moderate group (up 5.5 percentage points, from 33.9% to 39.4%) and those in their 20s (up 9.5 percentage points, from 28.0% to 37.5%). Senior Expert Bae Cheol-ho of Realmeter stated, "The sharp rise in approval ratings is mainly due to clear differentiation from the previous administration through criticism of 'Moon Jae-in Care,' reforms in labor, pensions, and education sectors, and the presentation of the Yoon administration's national policy direction." This is interpreted as the first national agenda review meeting, held live for 2 hours and 36 minutes on the 15th with 100 invited citizen panelists, receiving positive public response.

The Presidential Office plans to actively utilize the "public reporting method" for the New Year work reports starting on the 21st of this month, covering 18 ministries, 4 offices (the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, the Ministry of Personnel Management, the Ministry of Government Legislation, and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety), and 4 commissions (the Fair Trade Commission, the Financial Services Commission, the Personal Information Protection Commission, and the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission). The public will observe the next year's work reports, listen to the plans of the respective ministries, and make direct suggestions, thereby increasing direct communication between President Yoon and the public while fostering consensus on policies. Some ministries have already begun preparations since last week to select reporting methods, venues, and participating panels ahead of the work reports.

Additionally, unlike the usual practice of reporting issues and national agendas of one ministry at a time, it is unprecedented that 2 to 3 related ministries will be grouped together for reporting. This is reportedly in line with President Yoon's intention that since national agendas are discussed and promoted with various ministries and agencies, the next year's work plans should also be reported collectively. A Presidential Office official stated, "With attendance from ministers, vice ministers, agency heads, bureau chiefs, and working-level managers, there will be a time for close communication and consensus-building on our government's policy direction and reform tasks for the coming year."

The Presidential Office is expected to conduct a minor cabinet reshuffle based on the next year's work reports and the service evaluation results of current ministers and vice ministers by the Presidential Office's Public Service Discipline Secretary Office. Especially considering political variables such as the People Power Party's party convention and ministers being considered for other positions, a moderate reshuffle is also possible.

Meanwhile, detailed information regarding the public opinion poll can be found on the website of the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission.

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