"Yoon May Himself Shorten Term Through Constitutional Amendment"
Lee Jun-seok, leader of the Reform New Party, stated, "Everyone working in companies is criticizing President Yoon Seok-yeol," and analyzed that "President Yoon's support base consists of housewives, the unemployed, and retirees." He pointed out that the approval rating is 'qualitatively poor.'
On the 19th, Lee appeared on the YouTube channel 'NoCut - Approval Rating Countermeasures Meeting' and commented on President Yoon's approval rating hitting its lowest point since taking office, saying, "When analyzing approval ratings, you need to look at whether the supporters are white-collar workers, blue-collar workers, housewives, or the unemployed and retirees. President Yoon's support base has narrowed down to housewives, the unemployed, and retirees."
According to the survey results released by Korea Gallup on the same day, President Yoon's approval rating recorded 23%, the lowest since the current administration began. This figure dropped by 11 percentage points compared to the previous survey (4th week of March). The response rate for "doing well" in job performance was 23%, while "doing poorly" was 68%. By age group, positive evaluations were 14% for those under their 20s, 13% for those in their 30s, and 12% for those in their 40s, consistently showing figures in the low teens. From the 50s onward, the approval rating sharply increased, with 24% in their 50s, 32% in their 60s, and 47% for those aged 70 and above.
Lee paid attention to the fact that positive and negative evaluations of President Yoon were equal from the mid-60s age group. He interpreted, "Most people after their mid-60s are retired or not socially active," and added, "Those working in companies or running businesses are all criticizing the president."
He also provided an analysis that public opinion is worse than during the Park Geun-hye administration. "In the case of former President Park Geun-hye, the support base was divided at age 55," he said. "Back then, people in their mid-50s were managers at companies, so even when political discussions happened at work, department heads or executives supported former President Park. But now, the division occurs around age 65, so everyone sitting in companies is criticizing President Yoon."
He said, "If the results have solidified to this extent, it will be difficult for any discourse to overturn it," and added, "I think President Yoon himself might try to create momentum by pushing for a constitutional amendment to shorten his term. Otherwise, it will be hard for what the president says to gain attention," expressing a low expectation for recovery.
Regarding the nomination of the Prime Minister, he also analyzed, "The presidential office should have boldly handed over the recommendation right to the opposition party," and said, "Trying to do something by throwing in the familiar Park Young-sun card ended up being a ridiculous situation."
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