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How to make approval ratings fall further

Published: 23 Sep. 2024, 20:15

President Yoon Suk Yeol and the leadership of the governing People Power Party (PPP), including its leader Han Dong-hoon, are scheduled to have dinner Tuesday. But a new war of nerves over whether Han requested an exclusive meeting with Yoon has emerged after the presidential office expressed disappointment about the request. The meeting between the president and PPP leaders was already postponed over their differences over a proposal to delay the government’s plan to increase the medical school admissions quota. The resurfacing of the Yoon-Han conflict makes us question if today’s meeting at the presidential office can really proceed well.

After Han’s aides stressed the need for a one-on-one meeting to draw a change in the government’s rigid adherence to the original quota hike, the presidential office nearly refused an exclusive meeting, saying, “A face-to-face meeting with the president is an issue that requires a separate discussion.” We wonder why such a meeting is so difficult to have.

The public shows cold sentiment toward the governing force. President Yoon’s approval rating fell to 20 percent, the lowest since his election victory in 2022. If left unattended, the number could plunge further. The PPP’s approval rating also dropped to 28 percent. If the situation continues, the government and the PPP can hardly govern the country effectively.

The governing party can serve as an efficient communication channel between the president and the public. Given the hardships people experienced during the five-day Chuseok holidays, the presidential office must listen to their voices through their representatives. How to communicate between Yoon and Han doesn’t matter. Even a phone conversation or a text message will do. That’s the normal relationship between the president and the PPP leader. If they cannot resolve their conflict, they can’t turn the tide in the public sentiment against the government.

Han’s “image politics” — as suggested by the news report on his request for an exclusive meeting with the president — is not desirable. But the presidential office’s high-handed approach to Han’s request is also outmoded as it reminds us of the authoritarian days under the military governments. Does the presidential office really want to return to the past?

The most urgent challenge is to address the ongoing medical crisis from the massive walkout of trainee doctors to protest the government’s rush to increase the medical school quota. Both the presidential office and the PPP must demonstrate flexibility in dealing with the issue in today’s meeting. They must talk over several issues, even including the opposition-proposed special investigation into the first lady’s alleged corruption, with open-mindedness. A public assessment of the conservative government depends on what it will do in the remaining term and how. We hope both sides first resolve their weird relations before it’s too late.