Yoon faces mounting calls to replace national security team

President Yoon Suk-yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee arrive at Seoul Airport in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Saturday. Yonhap

President's approval rating falls below 30 percent after 7-day overseas trip

By Nam Hyun-woo

President Yoon Suk-yeol is facing mounting calls to replace his aides in charge of foreign affairs and national security, as his seven-day trip to the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada resulted in multiple controversies.

Yoon, who returned home on Saturday night, did not hold an in-flight press conference, as he is believed to be avoiding thorny questions about his diplomatic gaffes that took place during the trip. With the president anticipated to take questions from reporters on his way to work on Monday, all eyes are on whether Yoon will accept and respond to the heavy criticism.

During the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) Supreme Council meeting, Friday, Rep. Jung Chung-rae said that Yoon should replace his aides for foreign affairs after the "diplomatic disasters" that took place during his trip last week.

"Foreign minister Park Jin and Office of National Security Director Kim Sung-han should be sacked immediately, and senior presidential secretary for public relations Kim Eun-hye should also leave the office," Jung said. "Yoon, who is the one that should take all the responsibility, should apologize to the public."

DPK spokesperson Lim O-kyeong also said in a press briefing that Yoon and his ruling People Power Party (PPP) should apologize to the public for being an "international disgrace" and "damaging Korea's national reputation." She said that the president should pursue "a major reshuffle of his diplomatic team, including Foreign Minister Park Jin, for the total diplomatic incompetence shown in this trip."

Office of National Security Director Kim Sung-han, left, disembarks from the presidential jet after arriving at Seoul Airport in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Saturday. Yonhap

Yoon says alliance with US damaged by untrue reports of remarks caught on hot mic

2022-09-26 09:53 | Politics

The opposition's criticism follows a series of gaffes Yoon committed during his trip.

In contrast to the presidential office's announcement of Yoon's schedule ahead of the trip, the president failed to pay his respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II as she was lying in state in London on her funeral day. He also failed to hold a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden, in contrast to what his office had announced. Instead, Yoon signed the condolence book after the queen's funeral and had a 48-second conversation with Biden.

Yoon also took flak for his meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, as Tokyo had been denying Seoul's announcements that the two governments had agreed to hold a summit. Yoon finally met with Kishida for what the Japanese government said was an "informal" talk, after visiting him in the building of Japan's permanent mission to the U.N. Speculation is mounting that Seoul had begged Tokyo for the summit, following Japanese media reports that the Korean government had asked for the summit multiple times.

Along with these problems, Yoon found himself mired in another controversy after he was caught on hot mic using foul language after briefly chatting with Biden at a fundraising event on Thursday.

In the video footage of that scene that went viral, Yoon said, "Biden will surely lose face if those bastards do not pass it in the Congress." The senior public relations secretary later claimed ― despite the footage ― that Yoon had not said "Biden" but a similar-sounding Korean word, and that he was referring to the Korean National Assembly and not the U.S. Congress.

While these problems have drawn a torrent of criticism at home, questions were also raised about the tangible outcomes of Yoon's trip. The presidential office said in a press release that Yoon delivered South Korea's concerns over the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act and that Biden responded during their conversation that they would have serious consultations on the matter. But such a dialogue was not included in the White House's readout about the Yoon-Biden meeting.

President Yoon Suk-yeol talks with U.S. President Joe Biden after attending the seventh replenishment conference of the Geneva-based Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in New York, Wednesday (local time). On the right is Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin. / Yonhap

On the Japan front, the meeting between Yoon and Kishida is also drawing criticism for failing to draw tangible outcomes for bilateral relations.

"Concerns have been voiced that (Korea's) presidential office does not have experts in diplomacy with Japan," a Seoul-based analyst said, asking not to be named.

"There was unconfirmed talk that Seoul and Tokyo had agreed on the summit in principle well before Seoul's announcement, but there were differences in how the two countries have interpreted it. While Japan thought that an announcement would occur when the two sides agree on the meeting's exact schedule and format, Korea just focused on the fact that the two countries would have a summit. ... If there were experts who could have understood this difference, the summit could have been way smoother," the analyst said.

With the criticism intensifying, it remains uncertain whether Yoon's approval ratings can recover.

In a poll by Gallup Korea released on Friday, the president's job approval rating stood at 28 percent, down 5 percentage points from the previous week. The poll surveyed 1,000 adults from Tuesday to Thursday and further details are available at the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission's website.

The polling agency attributed the drop to the controversies over Yoon's diplomacy, such as his failure to pay his respects to the British queen while she was lying in state. The poll did not reflect Yoon's use of foul language following the meeting wity Biden.