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Lee's approval rating rises despite controversial Cabinet nominees

Published: 14 Jul. 2025, 19:40

Song Eon-seog, People Power Party's interim chief and floor leader, speaks at a meeting held on July 14 at the National Assembly in western Seoul. [NEWS1]

President Lee Jae Myung and the ruling bloc's approval ratings continue to rise despite various controversies surrounding the nominees for ministerial posts, leaving the People Power Party (PPP) visibly flustered amid parliamentary confirmation hearings for Lee's Cabinet members.

Confirmation hearings for 16 ministerial nominees set to form the first Cabinet of the Lee administration began Monday, and the PPP began to intensify its attacks on certain nominees.

Song Eon-seog, the PPP's interim chief and floor leader, on Monday bashed five of Lee's nominees, calling them “the unqualified five who are not even fit to confirmation hearings”: Kang Sun-woo, nominee for minister of gender equality and family, accused of bullying her subordinates; Lee Jin-sook, nominee for Minister of Education, accused of plagiarism; Kwon Oh-eul, nominee for minister of patriots and veterans affairs, accused of 'being paid for drinking coffee'; Cho Hyun, nominee for minister of foreign affairs, whose wife is accused of speculative investment; and Chung Dong-young, nominee for minister of unification, whose wife is accused of writing split contracts in his investment.

“The first Cabinet of the Lee Jae Myung administration is fundamentally flawed,” Song said.

Particular criticism has been directed at Kang, who has been embroiled in allegations of abusive treatment of aides, including forcing them to handle trash collection and airport protocol.

“A lawmaker’s aides are like family, and yet, we have a nominee for gender equality minister who mistreats them,” PPP lawmaker Kim Jae-seop wrote on Facebook Monday. “This is the true face of the Lee Jae Myung administration.”

Kang Sun-woo, nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family, responds to parliamentary questioning at her confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul on July 14. [NEWS1]

Despite the controversies surrounding some nominees, President Lee and the Democratic Party (DP) are enjoying an upward trend in approval ratings.

According to a Realmeter poll commissioned by Energy Economy and conducted from July 7–11, 2,513 voters 18 and older nationwide, Lee’s approval rating stood at 64.6 percent. This marked a 2.5 percentage point increase from the previous week and a 6 percentage point rise from the first survey conducted after his inauguration last month. The DP’s approval rating also climbed for the third consecutive week to 56.2 percent, the highest since the second week of June 2018, when it reached 57 percent.

The PPP’s support, however, dropped 4.5 percentage points from the previous week to 24.3 percent, falling below its previous record low of 24.8 percent from the third week of May 2020.

Observers point to both the “honeymoon period” typical of a new administration and disarray within the opposition as reasons for the diverging approval ratings. More than 40 days have passed since the presidential election defeat, yet the PPP remains mired in internal strife with no signs of recovery. While some argue that the party must apologize to the people for former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law, declared on Dec. 3, 2024, others remain adamant that the party “cannot just pretend” that it did not oppose Yoon's impeachment, according to interim chief Song.

President Lee Jae Myung inspects the Osong Gungpyeong 2 tunnel, which led to 14 deaths on July 15, 2023, in a flood in Cheongju, North Chungcheong, on July 14. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Making matters worse for the PPP is that the special probe of Yoon also targets some party members, making it difficult for PPP lawmakers to stand out at the parliamentary hearings for the ministers, with exceptions including Rep. Joo Jin-woo.

“Unlike in the past, when we focused solely on confirmation hearings, the party and its lawmakers now also have to contend with ongoing special counsel investigations targeting them,” said one lawmaker from the Gyeongsang region — typically known as the conservative voting field — describing the situation as another burden.

Some within the PPP predict that, as seen during the Moon Jae-in administration, accumulating missteps will eventually bring a tipping point. According to Gallup Korea, Moon’s approval rating peaked at 84 percent early in his term, leading to a landslide victory in the 2020 general election with 180 seats. However, approval plummeted to 38 percent by January 2021 amid a slew of scandals, including failures in real estate policy and the disciplinary action against then-prosecutor general Yoon.

“For now, the party must change first if we want the public to pay attention to our message,” said one PPP lawmaker representing a district in the greater Seoul area. “Even if we are overshadowed by the ruling bloc for the time being, we must keep denouncing them and appealing to public sentiment. Eventually, their approval ratings will fall.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY LEE CHANG-HOON [[email protected]]