Our newspaper’s special correspondent in South Korea Liu Yuan Our newspaper’s special correspondent Han Wen
South Korean President Yoon Seok-yue, who celebrated the second anniversary of his inauguration on the 10th, received an unsatisfactory "report card" on the same day - the latest poll showed that Yin Seok-yue took office. The second-anniversary approval rating is 24%, the lowest in more than 30 years. The day before, Yin Xiyue held a press conference at the Presidential Palace to clarify his position on future governance directions and major hot issues. On the same day, Yin Xiyue's 77-year-old mother-in-law was finally granted parole, which immediately sparked controversy.
The ruling party suffered a disastrous defeat in the parliamentary election. Nearly a month after the Prime Minister and presidential staff resigned collectively, the third staff camp of the Presidential Office of the Yoon Seok-yue government was officially formed on the 10th. Yonhap News Agency reported on the 10th that the department that attracted the most attention in this reorganization was the Civil Affairs Chief Secretariat. Out of concerns that the Chief Secretariat of Civil Affairs would control the investigative agency, Yoon Seok-yue abolished the department after taking office. However, some critics said that this move weakened the government's ability to understand public sentiment and led to the ruling party's defeat in the election. Under this circumstance, Yoon Seok-yue decided to re-establish the Chief Secretariat of Civil Affairs and appointed former Undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice (Deputy Minister) Kim Joo-hyun as the first Chief Secretary of Civil Affairs of the current government. With the formation of the presidential staff camp completed, Yin Xiyue is expected to start a comprehensive reorganization of the cabinet, including the appointment and removal of the prime minister-designate. Prime Minister Han Deok-soo has resigned due to the defeat of the ruling party in the election.
Although the reorganization of the staff camp has been completed, the Yin Xiyue government will face more problems in the future. Yonhap News Agency stated that Yin Xiyue’s support rate continues to be sluggish. A poll released by the polling agency Gallup Korea on the 10th showed that Yoon Seok-yue's favorable rating for his policies on the second anniversary of his inauguration was 24%. Last two years in approval ratings. The main reasons for favorable comments include "effective diplomacy" (11%), "promoting the expansion of medical school enrollment" (7%), "economic and people's livelihood work is in place" and "having opinions and beliefs" (5% each). In terms of reasons for negative reviews, “poor control over the economy, people’s livelihood, and prices” accounted for 19%, followed by “poor communication” (15%), “arbitrary behavior” (7%), and “poor diplomacy” (5%).
Some Korean media believe that the delay in Yin Xiyue's support rate rising has something to do with the negative news about his family members. South Korea's Minister of Justice Park Seung-jae finally accepted the parole review committee's application on the 9th and approved the parole of Choi Eun-soon, Yoon Seok-yue's mother-in-law. Yonhap News Agency quoted information from South Korea's Ministry of Justice and other sources as saying that all members of the parole review committee, which had previously been attended by outsiders, unanimously believed that Cui Yinshun met the conditions for parole and made an approval decision. Some people and political parties in South Korea have criticized this result. South Korea's News Agency quoted Huang Jingya, spokesperson of South Korea's largest opposition Democratic Party, as saying that the Ministry of Justice sent a "warm Parent's Day gift" to Yun Xiyue's mother-in-law. Huang Jingya also said that this nakedly shows the reality that the Yin Xiyue government has "privatized state power." Some Korean netizens left a message saying that they hope that Yin Xiyue can try to avoid making jokes about his wife and mother-in-law in the future stage of power. ▲
