Archyde.com: “Approval rating declines, briefings halted due to COVID-19 resurgence”
“Freedom of the briefing, scandal and political party controversies are suspended, leaving questions”
“Due to scandal, two candidates dropped out of one ministerial post in Korean history”
In relation to President Yoon Seok-yeol’s temporary suspension of a brief press conference (door stepping) on his way to work due to the resurgence of Corona 19, it was evaluated in the foreign press that it was related to a decline in approval ratings.
Archyde.com reported on the 11th (local time) that “South Korea’s President Yoon decided to stop the almost daily media briefing, saying that the number of people infected with Corona 19 is increasing after a poll showing his approval rating is dropping.”
The news agency said, “The free-spirited briefing that President Yoon expected to increase transparency came to an end while raising questions about scandals and party controversies.”
It was a brief meeting that started with good intentions, but on the 8th, it is said that the aftershocks had a bad influence on the approval ratings, such as the party disciplinary action against Lee Jun-seok, the leader of the People’s Power, who was accused of ‘teacher for destroying evidence of sexual abuse’.
“The scandal forced President Yoon to drop two candidates for a single ministerial post for the first time in South Korean history,” Archyde.com reported. It is pointed out that public opinion on personnel matters is not good in general, with candidates Jeong Ho-young and Kim Seung-hee, who were nominated as candidates for the Minister of Health and Welfare, resigning due to controversy over ‘father chance’ and violating the Political Fund Act, respectively. In fact, according to Gallup Korea, the number one reason for the negative evaluation of the president is ‘greeting’ for the third week.
The news agency explained, “President Yoon’s approval rating was 37% in a survey released by Realmeter on Monday,” the news agency explained. .
On that day, the opposition party also poured criticism on the suspension of the briefing, arguing that it was related to the decline in approval ratings. Woo Sang-ho, chairman of the Democratic Party’s emergency countermeasures committee, met with reporters at the National Assembly on the morning of the same day and said, “I think it was evaluated that various utterances lead to a drop in approval ratings, but it would be honest to think about a method in a refined way.” said He added, “It’s not a rule to not do it if it’s disadvantageous and to do it when there’s an advantage.”
Democratic Party lawmaker Jeon Jeon-ki also criticized on Facebook, saying, “Presidents running away with an excuse to say one word a day as an excuse are ridiculous.”
The Office of the President’s Spokesperson announced on the morning of the same day that “the President’s doorstepping has been temporarily suspended due to the spread of Corona.” On this day, the number of new confirmed cases was 12,693, which doubled from the previous week, and the press group in the presidential office also explained that the purpose was to reduce face-to-face interviews for the time being.
Shin Hyun-bo, reporter at Hankyung.com greaterfool@hankyung.com