[Editorial] Poor approval rating

Gaining and maintaining popularity is not necessarily the top priority for a president. After all, the person who leads the nation often has to embrace policies that may generate protests but need to be enacted for the country’s future.

However, data on the popularity of a president can be viewed from a different angle. If the president's approval rating remains near rock bottom, and the reasons for such dismal results are related to bad policies or unwise decisions, the data inevitably points to a serious problem that has to be examined and addressed.

As for President Yoon Suk Yeol, his poor approval rating seems to come mostly from his failures to meet public expectations regarding longstanding hot-button issues, especially those concerning his wife Kim Keon Hee and her alleged influence-peddling.

According to a survey released Friday by Gallup Korea, President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating dropped back to its lowest level since he took office in May 2022.

The survey shows that positive assessments of Yoon’s performance dropped 2 percentage points to 20 percent in the fourth week of October from the previous week, while negative assessments hit 70 percent -- an all-time high.

The poll was conducted on 1,001 adults from Tuesday to Thursday with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Yoon’s approval ratings had largely remained in negative territory in recent weeks, after falling to 20 percent in the second week of September.

The latest poll illustrates the worsening public perception of Yoon and his handling of personal and domestic issues, and his reluctance to address them in a meaningful way.

The reasons that respondents cited for their negative assessments of Yoon deserve attention. In the survey, 15 percent cited issues surrounding first lady Kim Keon Hee, followed by the economy, the cost of living and consumer prices (14 percent) and a lack of communication (12 percent).

The problem is that the reasons cited for Yoon’s poor performance have long been known and shared among the public. Worse, Yoon shows no sign of actively addressing the issues, even though poll results continue to sound alarm bells about his poor management of disputes that drag down his image and generate more public discontent.

What worries the public the most is the first lady, who has been hit by a slew of allegations including a stock manipulation scheme, her receipt of a luxury bag in violation of the law, and interference in the ruling People Power Party’s candidate nomination process for the April general elections.

In a separate survey by NBS, about 70 percent of respondents said that Kim should stop appearing in public altogether in consideration of the problems that she continues to cause. Even 57 percent of those who support the ruling party and 61 percent of those who live in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province -- a conservative base -- agreed that the first lady should refrain from public activities.

Mindful of the negative public opinion, Yoon himself said she would limit her public activities, but only three days later she appeared at an event for the visiting Polish President Andrzej Duda.

Aside from the controversy over the first lady, Yoon faces a host of thorny issues such as North Korea’s military cooperation with Russia in the war in Ukraine, the forthcoming US election and the gloomy outlook for the country’s economic growth. Against this backdrop, Yoon must not ignore the clear warning signs shown in the polls, because if his approval rating plunges below the 20 percent mark, his capacity to implement key national agendas will be severely undermined.