Ruling bloc losing support from liberal voters

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Lee Nak-yon speaks during a Supreme Council meeting of the party at the National Assembly, Friday. Yonhap

By Jung Da-min

Support for the country's ruling bloc is continuing to decline, but what's most worrisome for the ruling camp is this was largest among its traditional supporters ― liberal voters and residents of the Jeolla provinces.

In addition, President Moon Jae-in's approval rating dropped below 40 percent this week, the lowest since he took office in May 2017.

In a Realmeter poll conducted on 1,508 adults from Monday to Wednesday, 37.4 percent said Moon was doing a good job, down 6.4 percentage points from the previous week, and the first time for his approval rating to drop below 40 percent. Another 57.3 percent viewed his performance negatively, up 5.1 percentage points.

The decline was largest among those who identified as liberals, with their support rate falling by 7.8 percentage points, while among centrists it fell 5.5 percentage points. By region, the approval rate fell by 13.9 percent among residents in Gwangju and the Jeolla provinces, the home turf of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).

The support rate for the DPK is also declining, as in the same poll it plunged to 28.9 percent, down 5.2 percentage points; while the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) overtook it, receiving support of 31.2 percent.

Liberal voters' support for the DPK fell 9.9 percentage points, and centrists', 2.7 percentage points.

Political analysts attributed the latest drop in support for the ruling bloc to the party's failure to resolve continuing strife in political circles, especially the dramatic power struggle between Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl over sensitive issues related to President Moon Jae-in's prosecutorial reform policies and related investigations.

The issue has recently led to an unprecedented situation, with a local court temporarily overturning Choo's suspension from duty order against Yoon, as well as disciplinary action against him, citing procedural flaws. Regardless of the court decision, a disciplinary committee meeting to deal with the case will be held Dec. 10.

“The conflict between the justice minister and the prosecutor general is an unprecedented situation and the ruling bloc is to blame as it neglected its duty to solve the problem in its early stages,” Cha Jae-won, a professor of special affairs at the Catholic University of Pusan, said. “The ruling bloc's stance has led to the decline in its support rate.”

Park Sung-min, head of Min Consulting, a political polling advisory firm in Seoul, said the people, including supporters of the ruling bloc, are not happy with the DPK's recent political activities. They especially view the justice minister as abusing her power in pushing ahead with moves to suspend and discipline the prosecutor general while ignoring democratic procedures and ignoring protests from the prosecution.

“Almost all members of the prosecution have turned their back on Choo. The disciplinary committee to deal with Yoon's case also lacks procedural legitimacy as the committee is under the virtual control of the justice minister who has the right to appoint its members,” Park said.

The disciplinary committee meeting was first slated for Dec. 2, but has been put off twice to Dec. 4 and then Dec. 10. The second delay came after President Moon issued a message Thursday that procedures relevant to the committee's activities should be carried out with legitimacy and fairness.

The analysts said the President was only trying to avoid responsibility for the conflict between the justice minister and the prosecutor general by issuing the message to show that he is following principles.

“Moon is urged to take a more active role in mediating the conflict between Choo and Yoon as it is overshadowing other important political issues,” Cha said.

But Park said it has yet to be seen if the trend in the decline of support for the ruling bloc will continue in the upcoming weeks.