Off-the-cuff remarks undercut Yoon’s presidency

The president has been in office for seven months, but a real fight is yet to begin.

Koh Hyun-kohn

The author is the executive editor of the JoongAng Ilbo. Much of the unnecessary dispute over daily comments from President Yoon Suk-yeol has eased since he stopped the morning routine of holding a short press briefing on his way to work. His approval rating has since gone up to 38.9 percent from 33.4 percent two weeks ago. The first-ever attempt of a Korean president to answer questions from reporters nearly on a daily basis provoked more controversy than satisfying people’s rights to know. Whenever he made a slip of the tongue, his opponents ferociously attacked him. TV channels and YouTubers had a field day dissecting — and adding meaning to — his every word.

The idea of a president taking impromptu questions from reporters on a wide range of issues before reporting to work had been risky from the start. Yoon responded to trivial questions he could have his spokesperson answer instead. A head of state cannot have answers to every question. The conflict with MBC was rather opportune as it led to his decision to stop the exhausting routine. That triggered complaints from the press. Some asked what good was the relocation of the presidential office to Yongsan if his communication level goes back to the days of the Blue House. But such a superficial door-stepping ritual can hardly help his governance or communication.

Above all, the presidential office was not ready for the new way. In the U.S., White House correspondents can ask brief questions to the president on his way to get on Marine One. He could answer or refuse to do so. It is all part of the strategy. At first glance, his remark may sound like a casual answer from the president, but that is a result of a careful coordination between his aides and secretaries of departments, as every word from the president has the weight as a government stance. Unprepared presidential comments can cause big and small upsets.

Yoon was not ready for doorstep interviews. He dealt with reporters just as he did when he was a prosecutor. But as president, his every expression and gesture speak for the country. In that respect, Yoon was not so smooth. He was naïve to think that frank speech could be well taken, but world is not that simple. American management consultant Peter Drucker had said that what matters is what others heard, not what you said.

Moreover, Yoon shows his feeling easily. Upon a critical question about ministerial appointments, he raised his voice in defense, asking, “Have you seen a better minister in the past administration?” When asked why government posts are dominated by prosecutors, Yoon retorted that the past liberal administrations also brought in too many progressive lawyers. He shrugged off his poor approval rating, saying he did not care about it even during campaign. When reporters asked about his immature presidency, he reacted by saying, “That’s probably because I took presidency for the first time.” All of the words were too coarse and emotional as presidential rhetoric. Kim Chong-in, former interim leader of the People Power Party, observed the president cannot easily take criticism. Unless he changes, the skirmishes and disputes will continue.

There are too many people who enjoy watching him make a slip of the tongue. They could be missing the morning ritual. Tak Hyun-min, former protocol secretary of President Moon Jae-in, called the suspension of doorstep interviews simply “absurd.” He recalled the former president had been posed with a provocative question from a reporter during a press conference in 2019. But Moon had not sanctioned the reporter for being rude or called off his press conference, Tak said. But the comparison is quite poor as Moon met with reporters only two or three times a year.

A better comparison could be made with former president Roh Moo-hyun. Being temperamental, Roh also caused controversy with his unrefined language. He often blamed reporters. During the press conference marking his 100th day in office, reporters pointed out that his rough rhetoric could damage his governance. Roh tried to break the norms, rituals, and language of a traditional president, but his efforts backfired.

President Yoon Suk-yeol answers questions from reporters in a “doorstep interview” before work at the presidential office in Yongsan, Sept. 8. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Yoon must keep distance with small fights. He built up his career while resisting against the powers that be. Upholding law and order, he rarely yields. Yoon is also stingy with apologies. Such a contentious style worked well with his uphill battle as prosecutor general against former justice ministers Cho Kuk and Choo Mi-ae. But Yoon is now a president. If he wastes energy on petty fights, he could lose bigger wars.

As the ongoing strike led by the combative Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) shows, there are many wars he must face. Who is behind and what is being done about his labor and education reforms are not clear. His pension reform outlines are said to come out in the second half of next year. As the general election will be around the corner by then, discussions on pension reforms could be difficult. Regulatory and public-sector reforms are also lagging. The low birthrate and social polarization is also worsening. Yoon talks about freedom, but how people’s freedom will be enhanced is ambiguous. The president has been in office for seven months, but a real fight is yet to begin.