Park Ji-won is a writer for The Korea Times who has been covering a wide range of topics from Korea’s culture to its politics. An avid journalism enthusiast to the core, Ji-won brings a thoughtful and unique perspective to every topic she covers. On weekends, you'll often find her contemplating life’s purpose on a yoga mat — with a cup of quality tea in hand. A native Korean speaker by birth and fluent in English through her work, she went to college in Japan and is learning Chinese and French — hoping to add Polish, Russian and Thai to the mix.
Cabinet reshuffle falls short of expectations for changes: experts
President Lee Jae Myung looks down while heading for a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Aug. 21. Yonhap
By Park Ji-won
Support dips below 40% for 1st time as swing voters remain unimpressed
President Lee Jae Myung’s reshuffle of six ministers is largely viewed as a measure to gain momentum for his policies in his second year in office, as his support rates have declined significantly in response to public dissatisfaction with policies directly linked to people's livelihoods, like real estate and stock prices.
This measure, however, is unlikely to produce the desired results, as political analysts say the personnel replacements are unlikely to help regain public support because they do not signal tangible policy changes.
On Sunday, Cheong Wa Dae announced the replacement of ministers in six key posts — finance and economy; national defense; justice; SMEs and startups; gender equality and family; and land, infrastructure and transport.
While experts differed on the finer points, many agreed the shake-up was intended to reset the political mood as Lee's approval rating continues falling.
His approval rating fell to 38.9 percent, a survey by Realmeter showed Monday, dropping below 40 percent for the first time.
The pollster attributed the continued decline to rising housing prices and rental market instability, along with controversies over the rejection of a Supreme Court nominee, mounting distrust in police following a mishandled missing person case on Jeju Island and internal friction within the ruling bloc.
Political analysts shared the view that the reshuffle was disappointing and unlikely to reverse the downward trend, as it failed to address the core concerns driving voters away.
“The reason for the Cabinet reshuffle is obvious — to arrest plummeting approval ratings,” said Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University.
He added that the reshuffle is also aimed to consolidate its core left-leaning base, as seen from the nomination of Rep. Yong Hye-in, leader of the minor progressive Basic Income Party, and appointment of Rep. Lee Hae-min of the minor liberal Rebuilding Korea Party as senior presidential secretary for artificial intelligence and future planning.
“However, polls on political ideology show that moderate and swing voters make up the largest bloc, while left-leaning voters represent a much smaller fraction. Centrist voters do not care about a minister nominee's political inclination," he said.
"For these swing voters, the land minister nominee — who advocates for 'universal basic housing' — is not appealing at all,” Shin said, referring to Vice Land Minister Hong Jee-sun, nominee for minister of land, infrastructure and transport, who previously suggested offering public homes when President Lee was Gyeonggi Province governor.
Kim Man-heum, former head of the National Assembly Research Service, said the reshuffle seems to have brought no positive effect, whether symbolically or practically, adding the newly announced nominees fail to refresh public sentiment.
“Rather than the president's own view of the nominees and the reshuffle, what's more important is the public perception of them. However, the reshuffle appears to have been made with little regard for voter sentiment.”
Apartment complexes are shrouded in rain clouds in Seoul, South Korea, July 22. Reuters-Yonhap
Park Chang-hwan, a political science professor at Jangan University, noted that the reshuffle lacks a clear policy direction, adding that any rebound in approval ratings must align with actual policy changes.
“Amid falling approval ratings, Lee is appealing to the broader liberal bloc coalition," he said. "However, the reshuffle lacks a clear policy direction to change the mood.”
He added that reversing the downward ratings trend will require tangible policy changes and actual performance improvement.
Park was also skeptical of Yong's nomination as gender equality minister, despite the attention it drew as the first ministerial pick born in the 1990s. He said the choice is unlikely to resonate with women in their 20s and 30s — a key group where support for the ruling bloc has declined following its decision to abolish prosecutors' supplementary investigation powers — given that the two-term lawmaker is widely seen as an establishment insider.
“People will not develop expectations for policies on improving livelihoods, prosecutors' investigative right, real estate and taxes simply because new people take the key positions. The downward trend of support ratings can be reversed only when policy changes are made,” Park said.
The Realmeter survey was conducted of 2,509 adults from Aug. 24 to 28. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level and a response rate of 3.9 percent. Visit the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission for more details.