“If the cause was known, any government would have solved it well.”
On the 19th, President Yoon Seok-yeol said this to reporters asking about the cause of the decline in approval ratings. To the same question a week or so ago, he said, “I didn’t care about the approval rating. There is quite a difference in temperature from what he said, “It doesn’t mean much.”
The approval rating is a sensitive indicator that determines the driving force of the president’s future state affairs. Usually, 40% is considered the ‘Majino Line’ that can smoothly run state affairs. Whenever the approval ratings fluctuate greatly, past presidents responded, as if they had made a promise, saying, “I don’t care.”
The decline in approval ratings is a warning to listen to the public opinion. If the new government does not receive public support in the process of promoting reform, reform can be regarded as ‘arbitrary and selfish.’
80→6% … Kim Young-sam, who said “a stinging whip”
Former President Roh Tae-woo, the first direct president, started his term with an all-time low of 29%. It rose to 50% in the first year of his inauguration, the 1988 Seoul Olympics, but fell below 20% for over two years after the founding of the Democratic Party in 1990. At a meeting of the Japanese Correspondents in Korea in May of that year (1990), former President Roh said, “Koreans are in a hurry. When it’s hot, it gets hot quickly, and when it cools down, it cools down quickly.” He showed a resolute attitude, saying, “The support fell due to factional strife within the party, but it will rise in a little while, so you don’t have to worry too much.”
Former President Kim Young-sam, whose approval rating soared to 80% in the early stages due to the dissolution of Hanahoe and the introduction of the real-name financial system, fell to the 20% level in 1995, the third year of his tenure, as a series of major accidents such as the collapse of Sampoong Department Store occurred. Ex-President Kim felt a sense of crisis as he left the traditional support base of the Yeongnam region, and at a special conference for the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Yeongnam Ilbo in October of that year, he lowered his stance, saying, “I was scourged in the sense of asking the government and ruling party to do better.” At the end of his term, a direct blow from the foreign exchange crisis forced former President Kim to end his term with single-digit approval ratings (6%).
Ex-President Kim Dae-jung started off smoothly even in the midst of the economic crisis, with a 71% approval rating in the first quarter. In a KBS special interview on the second anniversary of his election in December after being hit politically by the ‘clothing lobby incident’ in 1999, he said, “When I see people constantly worrying about things they didn’t even think about rather than my support, it makes me feel lamented, and I think of what kind of sale this is. It costs me,” he complained.
Former President Roh Moo-hyun was impeached a year after his inauguration and was embroiled in an ‘early lame duck’, but as the opposition party pushed ahead with the impeachment plan, the opposition gathered again, and the approval rating again exceeded the 60% level. However, after the ‘sparkle rebound’, it suffered twists and turns as it plummeted to the late 20s level due to real estate policy failures, etc. In May 2005, while issuing a special amnesty for businessmen, he said, “Isn’t the approval rating going down and up? Former President Roh said, “I don’t flirt with the results,” and at the Blue House New Year’s greetings two years later, “I was greedy to receive good reviews from the public. But last year, I completely gave up.” At the same time, he resigned, saying, “I will not have high expectations this year.”
Kim Yun-ok comforted MB “I think it’s morning sickness”
Former President Lee Myung-bak was the least popular president in terms of numbers alone. In 2008, three months after taking office due to the ‘American beef scandal’, his approval rating dropped sharply, and the five-year average was only 35%. Kim Yun-ok, the wife of former President Lee, who had suffered from low approval ratings from the beginning of his tenure, said at a luncheon meeting for reporters at the Blue House in September 2008, “It takes 10 months for a life to come out. She even told the president that she ‘thinks it’s a period of morning sickness’,” he said. Since then, his approval rating has recovered and his confidence has been restored. In November 2009, at a meeting of Korean businessmen in Singapore, former President Lee made a ‘regular comment’ saying, “I am not interested in gaining popularity and gaining public opinion during his tenure.”
Former President Park Geun-hye has been noisy since the takeover period, and her approval ratings faltered as she received harsh criticism during the process of appointing a cabinet at the beginning of her tenure. In an interview with the Kyunghyang Shimbun during her time as former GNP leader Park in 2007, former President Park said, “Since she started politics, she has not been concerned with her approval ratings. “I will do that in the future,” she said. After she took office as president, when her approval rating fell to the 20% level in January 2015, she said, “I am thinking about various things such as a system that can communicate with the people,” and she expressed her will to reflect public opinion in state affairs. The approval rating of former President Park, who had once soared above the 60% level, plummeted to the 4% level immediately after impeachment. She broke the previous low of 6% approval in the fourth quarter of the Kim Young-sam administration’s fifth year.
Former President Moon Jae-in had the highest approval rating of 81 percent in the first quarter, the highest among all presidents. The impact of the impeachment of his predecessor’s president was great, as the public’s expectations for the next government were soaring. Ex-President Moon has shown a response to the high approval rating, saying, “I do not flinch,” but when his approval rating fell for eight consecutive weeks as economic indicators deteriorated in 2018, he said, “I will humbly accept the public sentiment.” Maintaining a concrete approval rating of over 40 percent by the end of his tenure, he left a note of “thank you to the people”. The five-year average approval rate for the Moon administration was 51%.
Reporter Seo Hee-yeon cuba@hankyung.com
