Yoon to hold press conference Thursday

President Yoon Suk Yeol (Yonhap)

President Yoon Suk Yeol will hold a press conference Thursday, as he seeks a breakthrough from his stagnant job approval rating and looming political attacks by the opposition parties set to continue to control the new National Assembly that kicks off next month.

Yoon's spokesperson Kim Soo-kyung told reporters Monday that Yoon will hold a media conference in the morning as he marks his second anniversary in the presidential office soon. Before the conference, Yoon will lay out his policy instructions for the remaining three years of his term.

He will brief on policy drives on a televised setting starting at 10 a.m. from his office, and will come downstairs afterward to the briefing room to take reporters' questions for about an hour.

This would be his second press conference since he was inaugurated on May 10, 2022. Yoon held his first press conference to celebrate his 100 days in office. Yoon took 12 questions in 33 minutes, after 20 minutes of his opening remarks.

Yoon last appeared before the press on Apr. 22 in an extraordinary fashion, when he announced his nomination of his Chief of Staff Chung Jin-suk and Senior Secretary for Political Affairs Hong Chul-ho.

All eyes are on Yoon's remarks over the controversy surrounding himself and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, as well as the recent general election loss in April that allowed the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea to take up a majority of seats at the National Assembly throughout Yoon's five-year term.

Meanwhile, a poll by Realmeter showed Monday that Yoon's job approval rating came to 30.3 percent in the first week of May.

His popularity inched up after recording a 20-month low the previous week at 30.2 percent. Since the ruling bloc's April election loss, Yoon's approval rating has remained below a 33 percent threshold.

By Son Ji-hyoung(consnow@heraldcorp.com)