South Korean President’s support rate hits highest since July

SEOUL – The support rate for South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol rebounded to its highest mark in about five months after he took

a tough line on striking truckers

and increased his focus on undoing his predecessor’s policies.

Mr Yoon’s approval rating rose three percentage points to 36 per cent in a weekly tracking poll released on Friday by Gallup Korea.

Backing for his conservative People Power Party also topped that for the main opposition Democratic Party.

This could help the President in Parliament, where his progressive political foes hold a solid majority and may not want to see a further erosion in public support.

Support for Mr Yoon, a prosecutor-turned-politician who took office in May,

plummeted to 24 per cent in late September.

At the time, survey respondents cited troubles with diplomacy, his personnel choices and a lack of experience as reasons for the disapproval. 

Since then, his government has sharpened its plans to roll back labour policies under progressive former president Moon Jae-in that it sees as hurting businesses. In a nationally televised town hall meeting on Thursday, Mr Yoon reiterated calls to reform the education, labour and pension systems to ensure fairness and sustainability.

Earlier in December, Mr Yoon

ordered striking truckers to return to work,

which helped pave the way for ending a labour dispute that threatened to disrupt supply chains of key export industries.

The strike had added to worries after South Korea’s exports fell the most in 2½ years in November, dragged down by an economic slowdown in China and cooling demand for semiconductors.

Mr Yoon’s approval rating in the Gallup poll climbed for a fourth straight week as tensions with labour unions have heated up.

One of his government’s top priorities is to finalise the 2023 budget after Parliament missed a Thursday deadline, as the ruling party and the main opposition failed to narrow their differences.

Mr Yoon needs to seek compromise with the Democratic Party, which holds a majority large enough to vote down his legislative proposals and can override any measure he vetoes.

The next parliamentary elections are not until 2024, and Mr Yoon may be on the back foot for a large part of his single, five-year term that ends in 2027. BLOOMBERG