By Kim Tae-gyu
President Park Geun-hye has decided how she will deal with calls for her to apologize again for government mistakes made before, during and after the sinking of the ferry Sewol.
"It is the right way to apologize directly to people after doing the utmost to search and save more missing persons and establishing the right systems," Park told religious leaders at Cheong Wa Dae, Friday.
Her clarification comes after criticisms first over her failure to make apologies and then for making them in the wrong way.
She apologized on April 29, 13 days after the April 16 accident, in front of her Cabinet members. This led to a stiff decline in her approval rating.
"I keenly felt how weak the government's system of handling catastrophes has been. We are putting forth efforts to make a safer society with well-functioning systems against disasters," Park said.
One of Park's aides said that the event was organized midway through this week as people's resentments ran high after her indirect apology during the weekly Cabinet meeting.
"I learned that the meeting with religious representatives was scheduled very recently, after the Cabinet meeting. It was not one planned a long time ago," said the aide, who asked not to be named because the arrangement was not his direct responsibility.
"As far as I know, she is attempting to listen to the voices of people through a variety of routes. She has been agonizing over how to console their sadness."
Despite her efforts, people are not showing any signs of calming down about the ferry disaster, which has prompted support for Park to continue to dwindle.
The approval ratings for her performances soared to 71 percent after she visited the victims of the disaster, who were camped out in a gymnasium in Jindo, South Jeolla Province, according to local pollster RealMeter.
However, that figure plunged to 56.5 percent in a week, to approach her yearly low in February when the nation's spy agents were accused of fabricating documents so as to charge a former Seoul City official with spying for North Korea.
In some surveys, her approval ratings even dropped below 50 percent. For example, Gallop Korea found on Friday that the figures plunged to 48 percent, down 11 percentage points in half a month.
Before the Sewol sank off the southwestern coast, Park enjoyed very high approval ratings mostly in the neighborhood of 60 percent after she took office in early 2013.
Observers claim that Park is required to carry out drastic measures to address the downward trend, which is feared to continue for quite a long time.
"Park's leadership style is being put to a test. She acted as if she is not a member of the incumbent administration, but its overseer. In my view, that's why she criticized all the mishandling of the Sewol incident instead of instantly apologizing," said Hwang Tae-soon, a political analyst at a Seoul-based think-tank.
"As one of a viable way to demonstrate her changed stance, she might come up with a major reshuffle of her Cabinet to include not only her confidants but also her critics and those from the opposition camps."
President Park Geun-hye has decided how she will deal with calls for her to apologize again for government mistakes made before, during and after the sinking of the ferry Sewol.
"It is the right way to apologize directly to people after doing the utmost to search and save more missing persons and establishing the right systems," Park told religious leaders at Cheong Wa Dae, Friday.
Her clarification comes after criticisms first over her failure to make apologies and then for making them in the wrong way.
She apologized on April 29, 13 days after the April 16 accident, in front of her Cabinet members. This led to a stiff decline in her approval rating.
"I keenly felt how weak the government's system of handling catastrophes has been. We are putting forth efforts to make a safer society with well-functioning systems against disasters," Park said.
One of Park's aides said that the event was organized midway through this week as people's resentments ran high after her indirect apology during the weekly Cabinet meeting.
"I learned that the meeting with religious representatives was scheduled very recently, after the Cabinet meeting. It was not one planned a long time ago," said the aide, who asked not to be named because the arrangement was not his direct responsibility.
"As far as I know, she is attempting to listen to the voices of people through a variety of routes. She has been agonizing over how to console their sadness."
Despite her efforts, people are not showing any signs of calming down about the ferry disaster, which has prompted support for Park to continue to dwindle.
The approval ratings for her performances soared to 71 percent after she visited the victims of the disaster, who were camped out in a gymnasium in Jindo, South Jeolla Province, according to local pollster RealMeter.
However, that figure plunged to 56.5 percent in a week, to approach her yearly low in February when the nation's spy agents were accused of fabricating documents so as to charge a former Seoul City official with spying for North Korea.
In some surveys, her approval ratings even dropped below 50 percent. For example, Gallop Korea found on Friday that the figures plunged to 48 percent, down 11 percentage points in half a month.
Before the Sewol sank off the southwestern coast, Park enjoyed very high approval ratings mostly in the neighborhood of 60 percent after she took office in early 2013.
Observers claim that Park is required to carry out drastic measures to address the downward trend, which is feared to continue for quite a long time.
"Park's leadership style is being put to a test. She acted as if she is not a member of the incumbent administration, but its overseer. In my view, that's why she criticized all the mishandling of the Sewol incident instead of instantly apologizing," said Hwang Tae-soon, a political analyst at a Seoul-based think-tank.
"As one of a viable way to demonstrate her changed stance, she might come up with a major reshuffle of her Cabinet to include not only her confidants but also her critics and those from the opposition camps."
![[ANALYSIS] S. Korean economy feared to follow in Japan's footsteps](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/3f9cf9747722448a8fd8da85b041817c.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[REVIEW] 'The ODD Of Love' concert: Taeyeon shows why she is among K-pop's top vocalists](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/e385d0918b054c1286a1cfaa3142439e.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] 'One Day Off' star Lee Na-young, director on creating subtle, feel-good series](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/796618f56a44402eabe81fe4530ab988.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
