WEEKLY NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (2024.05.04)

Welcome to Weekly News Highlights where we wrap up your week with a glimpse back into what went on over the past week.
I'm Kim Dami in Seoul.

President Yoon Suk Yeol is set to hold a press conference in the coming week marking his second year in office.
He also sat down with the opposition leader Lee Jae-myung this week for the very first time since Yoon took office.

South Korea’s exports pulled off an on-year rebound for the seventh straight month in April, driven by key export items, including automobiles and semiconductors.
With this, the nation logs a trade surplus for an eleventh consecutive month.

The leader of Angola came to South Korea this week for his summit with President Yoon Suk
And foreign and defense ministers of South Korea and Australia also held talks on issues ranging from North Korea's threats to the possibility of South Korea partnering with AUKUS on sharing military technology.


Title: Can President Yoon connect with public, cooperate with opposition amid low approval rating??

After the ruling party's defeat in the April 10th General Election, where the opposition Democratic Party of Korea won a sweeping majority, it has become vital for President Yoon Suk Yeol to seek cooperation with the opposition-led parliament.
But how feasible is this, and how can Yoon also strengthen his communication with the public with a highly anticipated press conference?
We're joined by our presidential office correspondent Oh Soo-young.
Welcome Sooyoung.

Q1. Let's start with the latest. President Yoon is moving to reach out to the press and the greater public.
You reported last week that there's a press conference coming up along with some further changes within the presidential office.

Yes, while a date has not been set, the President's Senior Press Secretary mentioned in an interview on Monday that we can expect to see one around May 10th --marking the Yoon Administration's second year in office.
It could be as early as Wednesday or Thursday, marking Yoon's first press conference since August 2022.
Around that time, he also stopped his impromptu Q&As in the morning after clashes with local broadcaster MBC.

"At that time he was very forthcoming and very direct about things. And people didn't necessarily like it. So I guess what we are here what we are saying here is that there is not a consistency in terms of what public wants. Now, we do understand that since stop since he stopped his doorstepping, he hasn't been really engaged in communication with the people, and that's what people are complaining about at the moment."

With his mannerisms as a former prosecutor, it seems the public had more of a problem with the style of communication than the substance of his policies.

"A public prosecutor has to go all the way to the end to win the case. And the public might have felt that President currently has had such attitude in some of the key issues. He has his conviction about certain issues, and he doesn't want to give up give in, or compromise. Taking into consideration public mood, that lack of flexibility and just the style of insistence upon his own decision about certain cases that has kind of angered the public and has made the public unhappy."


Q2. The president's approval rating has now dropped for three consecutive weeks. So some good press is sorely needed.

Yes, at 30.2% this week. His office is aiming to become more receptive to public opinion. Sources say Yoon is soon to appoint a Senior Secretary of Civil Affairs in early May.
This was a position that Yoon actually scrapped as he took office, citing previous cases of abuse-of-power and excessive investigations on citizens.
But after having admitted that he had failed to reflect the people's wishes, Yoon will likely revive the secretary post to focus on discerning public sentiment --without the intrusive functions --to better communicate his policies.

"I think for him is not necessarily to reverse course on all his policies, because I think a lot of people do regard many of his policies as being very good for the country. It's just that, I think partly is the way he presents it --the way his team has presented it up to this point in his administration."

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2024-05-04, 12:00 (KST)