Swift change is key to a successful presidency

President Yoon must colossally and speedily reshuffle the presidential office and the Cabinet.

President Yoon Suk Yeol passes the halfway point of his five-year term on Monday. But his approval rating over the past two and half years was utterly shabby, as clearly seen in the 17 percent still supporting the conservative president in the latest Gallup Korea poll. If the prosecutor general-turned president cannot turn the tide in the latter half of his term, Yoon will certainly face a bigger crisis than before. President Yoon must find a breakthrough by changing his governance style. There are no other solutions than that.

In Thursday’s nationally televised speech and press conference, the president publicly apologized for first lady Kim Keon Hee’s uninterrupted misbehavior for the first time since he took office in May 2022 and promised to return to the beginning of his term for change. The following day, the presidential office announced that the first lady would not accompany the president on his trip to Peru to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. An office aimed to deal with affairs related to the first lady also has been launched. We welcome the development following the presidential apology.

But that’s not enough. President Yoon must colossally and speedily reshuffle the presidential office and the Cabinet. If the president misses the timing, the sincerity of his apology will be doubted. At the same time, the president must appoint a special inspector who will monitor the first lady’s activities as soon as possible if he really wants to calm the deepening criticism for his self-serving biases. President Yoon must show that he has changed after listening to diverse voices from each sector of our society. The president also must dramatically improve his relationship with People Power Party (PPP) leader Han Dong-hoon to wisely navigate the storms the governing party and the government are experiencing.

Facilitating communication with the Democratic Party (DP) is also a must. Without help from the majority party, the government cannot push for the president’s reform agendas. The DP also must stop its massive outdoor rallies aimed at impeaching the president. We seriously wonder why the majority party — holding 170 seats in the 300-member National Assembly — habitually took to the streets whenever the need arose. The opposition must resolve political differences within the legislature. The prosecution must not offer any special treatment to the first lady when it investigates her. Otherwise, it will only increase the political burden on the president.

The situation at home and abroad is turning more volatile than ever. If the DP is only engrossed in shaking the government for its own political gains, Korea will face an unprecedented crisis. The government and lawmakers must wake up before it’s too late.