Democratic Party Approval Rating Hits All-Time Low

The Lee Jae-myung government's appointment of Minister Yong Hye-in sparked strong backlash, even from those previously indifferent to politics. It provoked such intuitive antipathy that criticism and ridicule about Minister Yong Hye-in's appointment spread even among elementary school students. Concerns were raised about the spread of political ridicule culture, with 'Yong Hye-in skins' appearing in the online game 'Roblox'. Such an appointment, failing to gain public consensus, is increasing disappointment in President Lee Jae-myung's personnel policies and accelerating the shift in voter sentiment.

Women in their 20s and 30s strongly opposed the repeal of police security investigation powers and showed signs of leaving the Democratic Party's support base. Furthermore, people in their 40s and 50s are also withdrawing their support due to disappointment with the current administration. The controversy surrounding Kim Seung-won's gaffes as candidate for Minister of Justice, related to victims, also fueled the anger of women in their 20s and 30s. Amidst these trends, both men and women in their 20s and 30s are observed shifting their support from the Democratic Party to the People Power Party.

The appointment of Minister Yong Hye-in is being used as part of a political offensive to pressure candidate Kim Seung-won, the candidate for Minister of Justice, to withdraw his prosecution, going beyond mere criticism of Yong Hye-in herself. The focus is not on directly attacking Kim Seung-won to make him fall, but rather on creating an environment where it would be difficult for him to politically recover if he withdraws the prosecution. This is interpreted as a strategy to create conditions where Kim Seung-won would face political ruin if he were to withdraw the prosecution.

In Jeju, it was revealed that 15 missing persons cases were falsely closed as deaths, causing great shock. This incident, involving a Jeju deputy chief and including a total of 25 false processing cases, vividly demonstrated the issues of fabricating electronic records and the loss of the police system's verification function. With criticisms that no proper verification was done in the reporting chain and that no one was looking into it, public distrust in government authority has intensified.

Despite Jeju Island's severe public safety issues, the Jeju governor's inappropriate remarks drew criticism. The Jeju governor said, 'People are safe if they go in groups,' which was criticized as an irresponsible statement in a situation where the basic public safety system for a tourist destination had collapsed. Despite the necessity of a high level of public safety for tourist destinations, critics argue that Jeju's current public safety system has collapsed to the point of undermining its status as a global tourist destination.

As public distrust in the police deepens due to incidents like the Jeju missing persons false closure case, public anxiety is growing further. Analyses suggest that this perception of a lack of public authority will inevitably lead to a decline in the Lee Jae-myung government's approval rating. Some even observe that the Lee Jae-myung administration has entered a 'dead duck' stage, beyond a lame duck.

The resignation of former Vice Minister of Economy Kim Yong-beom, following Jeong Seong-ho, further highlighted claims that the 'Lee Jae-myung ship' is sinking. The host described the Lee Jae-myung ship as already half-submerged, pointing to internal blame within the administration and controversies over 'scapegoating.' However, there is also skepticism that mere personnel changes alone will bring about substantial changes in the direction of state affairs.

Former Vice Minister of Economy Kim Yong-beom's remark about 'growing pains for growth' drew strong criticism from the public, who are struggling with high interest rates, high exchange rates, and high inflation. The public is suffering from soaring interest rates, exchange rates, and unaffordable housing prices, yet he attributed these realities to 'growing pains' while touting achievements limited to specific industries. In particular, with the public estimated to have lost approximately 54 trillion won due to leverage ETFs during his tenure, the debate over his economic policies has intensified.

The People Power Party called for a parliamentary inquiry and a special prosecutor regarding the leverage ETF incident related to former Vice Minister of Economy Kim Yong-beom. Representative Jang Dong-hyuk argued that the leverage ETF incident is sufficiently a target for a special prosecutor, pointing out the Financial Services Commission's insufficient stress tests and evasive answers. This further strengthens pressure on the administration, leading to suspicions of dereliction of duty and abuse of power by former Vice Minister Kim Yong-beom.

The Lee Jae-myung government's youth housing policy is criticized for lacking realism. Young people expressed anger, asking 'Do you think we're beggars?' regarding the government's idea of presenting goshiwons or converted buses as housing solutions. Critics point out that the situation is even worse than during the Moon Jae-in administration when 10-pyeong apartments were called good homes for raising two children, and disappointment in the current government's real estate policies is growing.

The Blue House stated the reason for former Vice Minister of Economy Kim Yong-beom's resignation was 'to provide smooth policy momentum.' However, the panelists analyzed that former Vice Minister Kim Yong-beom had acted as a brake on existing policies and criticized the Blue House's explanation, which interpreted his dismissal as strengthening policy momentum. This points to a discrepancy between the Blue House's explanation and the actual state of national governance.

It was pointed out that after the local elections, the Lee Jae-myung administration and the Democratic Party seemed to have lost both political acumen and judgment. The panelists mentioned feeling that the talent pool had bottomed out, highlighting the absence of core competencies necessary for governing.

The Lee Jae-myung government's real estate policies are criticized for being inconsistent, short-term measures for elections. A prime example is the failure to extend the temporary suspension of heavy taxation on multiple homeowners, despite promising it during the presidential election. Furthermore, there are criticisms that the government is overusing 'steroid-like prescriptions' such as livelihood coupons, focused only on short-term indicators ahead of local elections. Critics also argue that these short-term measures are not proving effective in actual self-employed businesses.

With Assembly member Kim Min-seok appointing former Assembly member Shin Hyun-young as spokesperson, a scene unfolded where Spokesperson Shin Hyun-young criticized Minister Yong Hye-in, who was nominated by Lee Jae-myung. Spokesperson Shin Hyun-young presented Minister Yong Hye-in with a dilemma, asking her to 'choose between quitting the Future Party or quitting as minister,' thereby exposing discord within the party. This is seen as an instance where internal conflicts within the Democratic Party are surfacing.