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| A television at a vendor inside a traditional market in Gwangju, South Jeolla Province, shows President Yoon Suk-yeol speaking during a press conference to mark his 100th day in office, broadcast from the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap |
President fell short of explaining how he will reshuffle his unpopular key aides
By Ko Dong-hwan
President Yoon Suk-yeol has not addressed properly the issues that the public wanted to hear about, and thus his press conference held to mark his 100 days in office made them feel something was missing, according to analysts.
The hottest flashpoint issue lingering over Yoon's administration was how he will reshuffle his key aides in the Cabinet and the presidential office in Yongsan District, as well as how he will push the heavily divided ruling People Power Party (PPP) more in his favor.
Quite a few cases of Yoon's recent appointments in ministries and the presidential office have aroused concern over their capabilities, ethics and personal ties to the president and first lady Kim Keon-hee. Brewing doubts over the president's entourage have been shared by main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmakers, the public and even suspended PPP Chairman Lee Jun-seok.
"What people mostly wanted to hear from Yoon's press conference on Wednesday was how he will reshuffle his key aides in the face of his public approval ratings that have plummeted. But there was nothing regarding that in the speech." Hong Hyeng-sik, president of Hangil Research, a local political analysis group, told The Korea Times. His approval ratings dropped to the abysmal 20-percent range earlier this month and, according to some of Wednesday's surveys, are currently barely hovering between 30 and 31 percent.
Yoon didn't give explanations for or even mention the most pressing issues regarding his political position in Wednesday's speech, according to Bae Jong-chan, the president of Insight K, another local political analysis group. These main issues include Yoon's contentious relationship with suspended PPP Chairman Lee Jun-seok, the launch of a controversial police supervisory bureau under the new Interior Minister against the nationwide protests of the police, as well as allegations that Kim ― the former director of an exhibition planning company ― plagiarized her doctoral dissertation.
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| Reporters at the press conference raise their hands to ask questions to the president, Wednesday. Yonhap |
The press conference was instead decorated with what Yoon has achieved as president, from adopting new economic policies to supporting private investments, advancing the country's space industry, deregulating the bio-health industry and starting to revive the country's nuclear power industry. But he has already shared with the public how he will govern the country multiple times and those issues aren't the public's biggest concern at the moment, according to Hong.
"We already heard about these things both when he was running for president before the March election and when he was inaugurated in May," said Hong. "The speech missed how he will shift the direction of his statecraft and reshuffle his key aides. Those factors are directly related to his lack of skill in governing and repeated blunders, as well as his problematic style of pushing forward his own ideas of laws, fairness and common sense that differ from those of the public. Such differences are the biggest reason behind the steep decline in his approval ratings. There wasn't even the slightest hint of an apology to the public for his low popularity."
Yoon also strongly criticized the income-driven economic policies introduced by the previous Moon Jae-in administration, but he has failed to propose any alternatives, according to Bae.
How stably he delivered the speech, on the other hand, was one success Yoon has achieved, according to some observers.
"But because of the steep decline in public support of Yoon and the ongoing skirmishes inside the PPP that don't appear to have any hope of subsiding soon, the public isn't really sure what Yoon has truly achieved during the past 100 days," said Hong.
Yoon did admit to the low ratings and the need to reshuffle his key aides, according to Bae. "He lowered himself to the public in terms of those matters. And he came out pretty strong to reporters at the conference on how he will run the country. I liked those points," said Bae.
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