Despite Efforts on Livelihood and Conflict Resolution,
President Yoon's Approval Rating Drops by 1%P
Attention on Party-Government Decoupling
President Yoon Suk-yeol is inspecting the site together with Han Dong-hoon, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, at the fire scene in Seocheon Special Market, Seocheon-eup, Seocheon-gun, Chungnam on the 23rd. [Image source=Yonhap News]
President Yoon Suk-yeol has rolled up his sleeves to focus on livelihood issues and has stepped in to resolve the standoff with Han Dong-hoon, the Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party. However, analysts say the scars of the conflict are unavoidable. As the conflict between the party and the presidential office escalates into a direct confrontation, the president's approval rating for state affairs has declined. The once powerful momentum of the Yongsan Presidential Office is also showing signs of cracks ahead of the general election. President Yoon's political skills are being put to the test over how to handle the controversy surrounding First Lady Kim Geon-hee's receipt of luxury handbags.
According to the National Barometer Survey (NBS) conducted by Embrain Public, K-Stat Research, Korea Research, and Hankook Research from the 22nd to the 24th among 1,001 men and women nationwide aged 18 and over, 31% evaluated President Yoon's state affairs management as "doing well," while 61% said "not doing well." This was the first public opinion poll conducted after the so-called Yoon-Han conflict was settled, showing a 1 percentage point drop in positive evaluations of the president compared to two weeks earlier.
Inside and outside the political circle, attention is focused on the "party-government decoupling" phenomenon as a result of the Yoon-Han conflict. After the conflict phase, President Yoon's positive evaluation of state affairs management declined, but the People Power Party's party support rate rose by 3 percentage points to 33% compared to the previous survey. Han Dong-hoon, the Emergency Response Committee Chairman, was also rated as "performing well" by 47%, higher than the 40% who said he was not performing well. Generally, the president's approval rating and the ruling party's support rate move in the same direction, but a decoupling moving in opposite directions appeared. While Han, who had clashed with the president, had a positive effect by shedding the image of being a "mini Yoon Suk-yeol" or "Yoon Suk-yeol avatar," from President Yoon's perspective, it is pointed out that the conflict has left scars with three years remaining in his term.
Within the presidential office, there is an atmosphere of refraining from mentioning Chairman Han and the ruling party altogether. A ruling party official familiar with the presidential office situation said, "Usually, opinions about the relationship with the party were freely expressed in meetings, but recently there is an atmosphere of not talking about it at all," adding, "Even if there are behind-the-scenes contacts, if discussions come to the surface, criticisms about interference in party affairs or candidate nominations may arise again, so they are probably avoiding it."
There are expectations that the party-government relationship will be quickly reestablished. Until last year, the party's internal atmosphere was sensitive and responsive to the Yongsan office's trends, but this is changing. If the controversy surrounding First Lady Kim was the starting point of the conflict, the upcoming candidate nomination issue is expected to be the real showdown. On the 24th, Kim Woong, a member of the People Power Party, expressed concern on CBS Radio's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show," saying, "The candidate nomination issue is truly a battle that no one can concede." However, there is also a positive view that this opportunity could be a starting point for transforming the traditionally vertical party-government relationship into a horizontal one.
Analysts also say this conflict has amplified the need for the president to communicate with the public. Among the presidential aides, a public opinion is gradually forming that maintaining the stance that "First Lady Kim is a victim" regarding the luxury handbag controversy cannot soothe the worsening public sentiment, and they are awaiting President Yoon's final decision. The fact that President Yoon is deeply considering communication methods, such as explaining the First Lady's controversy directly in an interview format with a specific media outlet, also reflects the changed atmosphere.
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