![]() ![]() But critics argue that Yoon’s incompetence and dogmatic approach have deepened social conflict and division, with serious distortions and democratic backsliding bringing about critical consequences for South Korea’s future. ![]() ![]() Yoon and his PPP supporters claim that their leadership is based on rule of law principles, and that this underpins their administration’s major reforms in labour, pensions and education, among others. This, in addition to other DP lawmakers’ bribery scandals, have brought about a Korean-style lesser evil politics characterized by no responsibility or moral rectitude. The strange balance of evil is caught between the ruling PPP, controlled by Yoon loyalists, that has abandoned party autonomy as if it were the ‘ Yeouido branch of the presidential office’ and the DP acting as a ‘bulletproof vest’ for the judicial risk associated with its head representative, Lee Jae-myung. ![]() Yoon’s value-oriented diplomacy, which also sits at the core of his unilateralism in domestic politics, has also brought about a series of missteps, including repeated diplomatic bungles. These two neighbouring countries remain major challenges for the South Korean government given the growing US–China rivalry and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Still, Yoon’s remarks on value-oriented diplomacy have triggered backlash both at home and abroad, including from China and Russia. Yoon’s unilateralist mode of statecraft, focussed on strengthening the South Korea–US alliance and restoring South Korea–Japan relations under his ‘value-oriented’ diplomacy, especially amid escalating nuclear threats from North Korea, has won him a warm welcome among many democratic ‘friends’, which Yoon has underscored as his major achievement. Many South Koreans feel that Yoon has divided their world into ‘ friend or foe’ with his overbearing right-or-wrong approach, carried over from his background as a public prosecutor. Yoon’s unusually low approval ratings represent widespread public disappointment with his ‘one-sided’ approach to managing state affairs. As for the question about next year’s general elections, 49 per cent said that they want to ‘elect a majority of opposition parties to keep the government in check’, and only 37 per cent would chose to ‘elect a ruling party majority supported by the current government’. Support for Yoon’s conservative People Power Party (PPP) was 35 per cent and support for the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) stood at 32 per cent. Public opinion is fluctuating significantly as voters feel they will have to pick between the lesser of two evils in the legislative elections in April 2024.Ī June 2023 poll recorded that Yoon’s approval rating had fallen to 35 per cent, while his disapproval rating was 57 per cent. Both the ruling and opposition parties appear unattractive to voters. Since the anniversary of Yoon Suk-yeol’s ascent to South Korea’s presidency was marked in May 2023, public doubt over Yoon’s apparently arbitrary administration of state affairs has grown. Economics, Politics and Public Policy in East Asia and the Pacific ![]()
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