As low as Yoon’s approval ratings are at 37%, this is actually up from the 27% he was previously at just a month ago. However, his negative rating is 60% which is driven by economic concerns. The impact of the Inflation Reduction Act in the U.S. continues to be an issue his critics have been hammering him on since he could not get any concessions from the Biden administration for Korean companies:
President Yoon Suk Yeol’s approval rating stands at 37.5 percent ahead of this week’s first anniversary of his inauguration, a Yonhap News Agency-Yonhap News TV joint survey showed Tuesday.
The survey also showed the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) would win 32 percent and 30 percent of the vote, respectively, if next year’s parliamentary elections were to take place tomorrow.
Seven out of 10 people also said they are worried about South Korea’s security, the survey showed, amid a series of North Korean missile launches, and tensions with Russia over Ukraine and with China over the cross-strait issue.
According to the poll, the positive assessment of Yoon’s performance was 37.5 percent, while the negative assessment came to 60 percent. (……….)
Defense and diplomacy were the factors most cited by respondents in giving positive assessments of Yoon’s performance, followed by science, health care, culture and the economy, the poll showed.
In contrast, the economy was the factor most cited by respondents in giving negative assessments.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
Here is another development in the improving ties between South Korea and Japan:
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to visit South Korea later this month, in what appears to be a move to gain the upper hand over Seoul in trilateral relations between South Korea, Japan and the U.S.
Korea Times
Citing multiple government officials from both the South Korean and Japanese governments, Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun reported on Sunday that the prime minister will visit Seoul from May 7 to 8. It will be his first trip to South Korea since taking office.
The newspaper reported that the visit is aimed at responding to President Yoon Suk Yeol’s visit to Japan in March, during which the South Korean leader showed his willingness to improve chilled bilateral relations.
The South Korean presidential office did not confirm this, but admitted that “consultations are ongoing” over the prime minister’s visit to South Korea.
If it takes place, the visit will be the first by a Japanese prime minister since February 2018, when Shinzo Abe made one on the occasion of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics here. In terms of bilateral diplomacy, however, it will be the first visit since October 2011, when Yoshihiko Noda visited Seoul for a summit with then-South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.
You can read more at the link.
South Korea is a much better location than China to be building a Gigafactory. The Chinese government is already meddling in Tesla operations in Shanghai. Tesla would likely be free of such meddling with a South Korea based plant:
President Yoon Suk Yeol met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday and asked for his investment in a gigafactory in South Korea, a presidential official said.
The meeting took place at Musk’s request during Yoon’s state visit to the United States, according to senior presidential secretary for economic affairs Choi Sang-mok.
Yoon said South Korea boasts world-class manufactured robots and an advanced labor force, making it an ideal location to run a gigafactory.
“Should Tesla decide to invest, we will provide active support in terms of location, workforce and taxes,” he was quoted as saying.
Musk responded that he expects to pay a visit to South Korea, saying the country remains an interesting and leading candidate to host a gigafactory, according to Choi.
Yoon also voiced hope for greater cooperation between South Korean businesses and SpaceX, a U.S. spacecraft company headed by Musk, to help foster South Korea’s space industry.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
Who would have thought an idiot 21 year old National Guardsman trying to win Internet arguments in a Discord chatroom would cause a massive slide in President Yoon’s approval ratings?:
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| Kim Tae-hyo, deputy national security director, speaks to reporters at Incheon International Airport, Saturday, after returning from his Washington trip. Yonhap |
Expectations were high among presidential aides and ruling party politicians only two weeks ago when it was announced that President Yoon Suk Yeol would address the U.S. Congress on April 27 during his trip to Washington.
Many thought that his state visit to the United States ― the first by a Korean head of state in 12 years ― would help him recover his image as a trusted leader and put a stop to his declining approval ratings following his hasty and controversial push to improve relations with Japan.
Yet skepticism is now growing that his visit will do little to achieve those goals. A mix of U.S. surveillance allegations, Washington’s irresponsible response and ― most importantly ― the Yoon administration’s poor handling of the situation has put the president in another political bind.
On Saturday, nearly 20,000 protesters gathered in the streets of central Seoul, denouncing the administration for its “humiliating diplomacy.”
“Despite the thief who stole our secret safe before the U.S. trip, [the administration] claims that it was a good thief and had goodwill,” activist Kim Min-woong said during the protest. “Shouldn’t the U.S. apologize? This country (Korea) has become a global pushover, which does not complain even when its sovereignty is violated. Humiliating.” (……)
With the U.S. offering no public apologies or promises to stop spying on Korea, the public has been upset, and they’re taking it out on Yoon. According to a poll released by Gallup Korea Friday, the president’s approval rating dropped to 27 percent from 31 percent a week ago, with 28 percent of the respondents disapproving of his diplomatic activities as their main reason. It was the first time his approval rating fell below 30 percent since November 2022 following the Itaewon crowd disaster, which killed at least 158 people.
Korea Times
You can read more at the link, but it is no surprise that the Korean left is demagoguing this issue acting like the ROK doesn’t collect intelligence on the United States.
This guy claims President Yoon has ruined the country and wants to kill him:
Police said Monday they were tracking a suspect who posted a terror threat online toward President Yoon Suk Yeol.
According to police, a 112 report was filed Sunday night that a terror threat had been posted to a moderate conservative online community.
he suspect uploaded the post at 10:22 p.m. on Sunday along with a photo of a pistol. The registration number of the pistol was covered.
“I bought the pistol with cryptocurrency and finally received it. The president has ruined the country and I will save the country by killing the president,” he wrote. The post was deleted some hours later.
Korea Herald
You can read more at the link.
I did not realize it has been this long since an official state visit to the U.S. by a South Korean leader:
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will make a state visit to the United States late next month, and hold a summit with his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the two countries’ alliance and deepen political, economic, security, and people-to-people ties.
Korea Times
The South Korean presidential office said Wednesday that Yoon will travel to the U.S. for a state visit in late April and that a state dinner is slated for April 26. The White House said U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and his South Korean counterpart Kim Sung-han discussed preparations for the upcoming visit by Yoon and his wife, Kim Keon Hee.
It will be the first state visit to the U.S. by a South Korean leader in 12 years. The last South Korean head of state to do that was former President Lee Myung-bak, who was invited by then U.S. President Barack Obama in October 2011. Also, Yoon will be the second state guest invited by Biden since his inauguration in January 2021.
You can read more at the link.
