Reshuffle expected this week; approval rating drops for third week running

President Park Geun-hye’s weekly job rating hit a record low last week, continuing to slide for the third consecutive week, amid deepening public disapproval of her inconsistent policies on tax and health insurance, as well as her lack of communication and unilateral personnel choices.

According to local pollster Realmeter, the president’s approval rating on the fourth week of January fell 1.9 percentage points to 32.2 percent, while her disapproval rating rose 1.8 percentage points, exceeding 60 percent for the first time.

President Park Geun-hye (Yonhap)
President Park Geun-hye (Yonhap)

Her approval rating was 30.1 percent on Monday, already 4 percentage points lower than the previous week due to worsening public sentiment regarding her decision to retain Chief of Staff Kim Ki-choon and three secretaries involved in an influence-peddling scandal. Her rating slipped to 29.7 percent on Tuesday, the lowest since she entered office early 2013. The government’s controversial tax settlement scheme seems to be correlated to the sharp decline, Realmeter said in a statement.

The poll ratings climbed up slowly starting on Wednesday as the president tried to please the public by visiting marketplaces and a day care center in Incheon, it added. For the survey, 2,500 adults were interviewed nationwide between last Monday and Friday. The poll has a 2 percent margin of error and a 95 percent confidence level.

Observers say Park’s steadily falling ratings will unsettle her nerves and press her to quickly finalize her reshuffle plan, possibly by early this week. Park appointed former Saenuri floor leader Rep. Lee Wan-koo as new prime minister and replaced her senior secretaries two weeks ago. Park said that she would also conduct a “small-scale” Cabinet reshuffle at her New Year’s conference last month.

Some insiders say that the president could announce lists of new Cabinet members on Tuesday at the earliest, and also hinted that she could replace her chief of staff, who has been accused of exercising too much power in terms of state affairs and personnel choices.

Park vowed Monday that she would avoid causing the public further concern by closely working with the ruling Saenuri Party over policy coordination. While expressing her gratitude for congratulatory messages for her 63rd birthday on Monday, senior presidential press secretary Yoon Doo-hyun told reporters in the morning that the president was set to have lunch with her chief of staff and other senior presidential secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae.

“There was no birthday event planned but we will have a simple lunch at (the president’s) residence as senior secretaries wish to (celebrate the day),” said Yoon.

Park has come under fire for her government’s revised tax settlement scheme and suspended plans to revamp the national health insurance system, with many questioning her principles-based leadership.

Controversy escalated last week after Health Minister Moon Hyung-pyo said he would not consider introducing a new system to levy more health insurance fees on high earners. The remark quickly raised speculation that the minister may have been under pressure from the presidential office to backpedal on the policy to avoid agitating taxpayers already upset with the recent tax increases. The Park government has come under fire as some people with an annual income of less than 55 million won ($50,700) will have to pay additional taxes this year due to a new tax scheme.

In an obvious move to placate the public, the Cabinet and presidential office said Sunday they would launch a joint consultative body to coordinate government policies. The new committee will consist of the two deputy prime ministers for economic and social affairs, the minister for government policy coordination, and three senior presidential secretaries for policy coordination, public relations and economic affairs, officials said.

Pundits and the opposition party, however, lashed out at Park’s new joint body, stressing that it would not help to solve the political crisis that has arisen over her inconsistent welfare policies. The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy urged the president to give up on her welfare policies if unable to implement them without boosting taxes. Launching a new committee would not help her win back public support, it stressed. “Public distrust of the government’s policies is expanding as it has backtracked on plans to revise tax settlement, reform the health insurance system, and raise automobile and residence tax,” said NPAD chairman Moon Hee-sang at a party meeting.

“It is because of the government’s unrealistic policies and its belief that welfare expansion is possible without a tax increase.”

By Cho Chung-un()


koreaherald@heraldcorp.com