President Lee Jae-myung's 'left-leaning' move amidst the lowest approval rating... There are many difficulties

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lim Hyeong-seop = As President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating for state affairs continues to decline, attention is focused on his so-called 'left-leaning' actions.

The nomination of Yong Hye-in as Minister of Gender Equality and Family in the recent cabinet reshuffle and the successive meetings with the two major trade unions and civic groups are cited as representative examples.

Some analysts say that this is a move to turn the tide by uniting the 'main' progressive camp, but some say that there are quite a few difficulties to overcome, such as public opinion following the cabinet reshuffle, which is different from expectations.

◇ Lowest government approval rating… President Lee hugs a ‘domestic rabbit’

According to a public opinion poll released by Gallup Korea on the 4th (1,001 adults across the country surveyed from the 1st to the 3rd, interviews were conducted by telephone investigators using randomly selected wireless phone virtual numbers. The sampling error was ±3.1p at a 95% confidence level, the contact rate was 47.4%, and the response rate was 10.9%. For details, refer to the National Election Opinion Survey Deliberation Committee website), President Lee's approval rating for state affairs recorded 40%.

This figure is a 2 percentage point drop from the 4th week of August survey (42%) released on the 28th of last month, breaking the lowest since taking office.

Meanwhile, President Lee appears to be sending a 'love call' to the progressive camp, the Democratic Party's traditional support base.

On this day, President Lee met with officials from progressive civic groups such as the Coalition for Civil Society Groups and the Korea Progressive Alliance at the Blue House and encouraged them, saying, "Civil society organizations will play a very large role in the major social reforms that we must carry out in the future."

The day before, they met with Kim Dong-myeong, chairman of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (KCTU) and Yang Kyung-soo, chairman of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), and discussed the 'three mega projects' and the issue of extending the retirement age.

It is interpreted that there are concerns that if the core supporters, called 'house rabbits', leave, it may have a negative impact on the overall government administration.

In other words, the decision was made that in order to reverse the current decline in approval ratings, the core support base must remain strong.

In addition to Candidate Yong's surprise nomination, the selection of former Cho Kuk Innovation Party lawmaker Lee Hae-min as senior secretary for AI future planning at the Blue House can also be interpreted as a move to embrace the so-called 'left' camp.

Previously, at a meeting with new party leaders, including Kim Min-seok, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, at the end of last month, President Lee was known to have commented to the effect that 'we have not paid too much attention to the left'.

◇ Yong Hye-in is concerned about the worsening public opinion… Troop deployment to Hormuz is also a ‘test bed’

However, there continues to be some doubt as to whether President Lee's actions will be effective.

First of all, the reaction of core supporters to Candidate Yong's nomination appears to be far from the expectations of the Blue House.

Progressive political parties such as the Justice Party and the women's community are criticizing Candidate Yong's appointment, and some in the Democratic Party are also calling for his voluntary resignation. In fact, there is a constant stream of anti-voice voices even within the core supporters.

However, the Blue House is drawing a line at the possibility of withdrawing the nomination.

The current trend within the Blue House is that the candidate's position should be fully heard through a personnel hearing.

Another concern is that if it is seen as excessively 'left-clicking', it may cause confusion among moderates who have supported the pragmatic path.

In relation to this, President Lee stated in a SNS message on the 2nd, "Simultaneous expansion of growth and welfare is ideal, but unrealistic, and inevitably, now is the time to focus on growth to increase the size of the pie," and on this day, he also emphasized that he will not lose his pragmatic and balanced attitude, such as saying, "I will not unilaterally take the side of workers."

Furthermore, there are observations that the issue of dispatching troops to the Strait of Hormuz, which has recently emerged as an issue in terms of 'house rabbit solidarity', could be another test for President Lee.

An official from the Blue House said on this day, "I think it is possible to move within the range that does not cause major damage to the preparedness of the Korean Peninsula," and "When we say dispatch of troops, we associate it with combat, but that may not necessarily be the case."

In a situation where pressure from the United States to dispatch troops is increasing, it is interpreted that the possibility of dispatching troops centered on non-combat assets is in fact left open.

However, the variable is that opposition from progressive members of the Democratic Party may erupt in the process of obtaining consent from the National Assembly.

Representative Lee Ki-heon of the Democratic Party also argued on Facebook that day, "The dispatch of our military to the Strait of Hormuz under any pretext is unacceptable. Even if it is a non-combat force, its essence is clear participation in war."

In the end, concerns are raised that it will not be easy to find a solution between the pragmatic argument that sending troops should be considered for the national interest and voices that value traditional progressive values.