Yoon's Consecutive Livelihood Moves Boost Approval Ratings Near 40%

Yoon "Everything is my responsibility... Government must resolve and soothe people's difficulties"
Kakao issues warning targeting banks... Clarifying misunderstandings about R&D budget cuts
In the National Assembly, a 'humble attitude'... "Will take it to heart and reflect well in state affairs management"

President Yoon Seok-yeol's approval rating, which had been declining following the by-election defeat of the mayor of Gangseo District in Seoul, has turned to an upward trend. The approval rating appears to be responding to his consecutive visits to the field focusing on people's livelihoods, and President Yoon has stated that the focus of his governance in the second half of the year will be on 'stabilizing people's livelihoods.'

According to a public opinion poll conducted by R&Search on behalf of CBS No Cut News from the 1st to the 3rd of this month, surveying 1,008 men and women nationwide aged 18 and older, President Yoon's approval rating rose by 4.9 percentage points from the previous week to 39.1%. Notably, the approval rating increased across all age groups except those in their 20s. By region, it rose by 15.7 percentage points in the Chungcheong area and 12.3 percentage points in Daegu and Gyeongbuk. In Seoul, it also increased by 9.7 percentage points. Although negative evaluations remained higher at 58.9% compared to positive ones, they decreased by 4.4 percentage points from the previous week. Negative evaluations among the moderate political group also dropped by 7.4 percentage points.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

R&Search attributed the rise in approval ratings to President Yoon's state of the nation address on the next year's government budget at the National Assembly at the end of last month and his ongoing communication efforts.

In fact, after the by-election defeat of the Gangseo District mayor, President Yoon has been focusing on field visits centered on people's livelihoods. Following his state visits to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, President Yoon pledged to listen to the voices of ordinary citizens and reflect them in policies, even amid the politically charged confrontation between ruling and opposition parties. At the 21st Emergency Economic and Livelihood Meeting held on the 1st at a cafe in Mapo District, Seoul, he said, "The government must ensure the safety of the people, resolve their difficulties, and soothe them," adding, "Everything is my responsibility." The reason for holding the meeting in Mapo District was to reaffirm his original intention of focusing on people's livelihoods, as it was the place where he declared his political participation in June 2021.

President Yoon also issued a strong warning targeting Kakao and banks. Regarding Kakao's taxi call commission, he pointed out, "This is something that appears in monopoly theory. So-called predatory pricing means charging almost nothing or very low prices to eliminate competitors, continuously attracting new entrants, and then, once the market is completely dominated and monopolized, raising prices to exploit customers." Following the president's remarks, Kakao Mobility announced it would hold an emergency meeting to gather taxi drivers' opinions for a complete overhaul of the taxi commission system, including franchise taxi commissions. Kakao Mobility stated, "Based on drivers' feedback, we plan to undertake a comprehensive reform of the commission system."

He also sharply criticized banks' behavior regarding loan interest rates. President Yoon said, "Banks in our country often engage in power abuse. This is because of the oligopolistic state of our banks, which is also a kind of monopoly," adding, "Compared to corporate loans, household and small business loans have lower default rates and more stable loan assets. Banks should not operate with this attitude and must change their structure. The government must never leave the monopolistic behavior of banks unchecked. We must push strongly against it."

Regarding the controversy over the reduction of the research and development (R&D) budget during the government budget formulation process, he took a conciliatory stance, saying, "We will boldly invest in truly necessary fields and significantly increase the R&D budget during my term." Although the R&D budget was reduced for the first time this year, the adjustment was made to ensure funds are actually invested in R&D rather than serving as supplementary allowances, with plans to increase the budget in the future.

In the National Assembly, he expressed willingness for cooperation. After the state of the nation address, President Yoon told the standing committee chairpersons at a luncheon, "My aides took notes of your valuable remarks," and added, "I will not forget what was said today and will carefully reflect it in governance."

The field visits by presidential aides and ministers also seem to have influenced the rebound in approval ratings. Earlier, at the Cabinet meeting held on the 30th of last month, President Yoon urged his aides and cabinet members to conduct field visits, saying, "Even if it is something we all know, hearing the voices of the people directly on site allows us to grasp the essence of the problem more vividly and feel the seriousness more deeply." A presidential office official stated, "The direction of future governance is for the president, ministers, and aides to focus more on the voices from the field of people's livelihoods," adding, "We will listen to the people and reflect their voices in policies to provide practical support."

Meanwhile, the above poll was conducted using a structured questionnaire with a sample extracted by proportional allocation according to gender, age group, and regional population composition, employing a 100% automated response method via wireless telephone RDD. The response rate was 1.9%, with a 95% confidence level and a sampling error of ±3.1 percentage points. For more details, please refer to the website of the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission.

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