Lee Jae-myung’s government faces a crisis deeper than falling approval ratings

President Lee Jae-myung’s approval rating is falling, but the deeper danger, according to sociologist Shin Jin-wook, is that South Korea’s democracy is losing its political center.

Recent polls put positive evaluations of Lee’s administration in the 30% range, with negative ratings more than 10 percentage points higher. One Realmeter survey placed disapproval at 60%, while positive views among people in their 20s fell into the 20% range. Support for the Democratic Party also declined, narrowing its lead over the People Power Party to single digits.

Shin writes that forces associated with the martial-law crisis have returned with confidence, presenting themselves as defenders of democracy while defending martial law and glorifying military dictatorship. He points to a National Assembly forum hosted by People Power Party lawmaker Lee Jin-sook that described the May 18 Democratic Uprising as connected to “Juche” and blamed it for the corruption of the constitutional order established in 1987. A co-hosting group has argued that the long rule of former presidents Syngman Rhee and Park Chung-hee was legitimate.

“

The 광주 spirit is compatible with the ideology of anti-state forces, Juche, and May 18 was the main culprit behind the corruption and decline of the 1987 system.

The article also criticizes remarks by lawmaker Kim Tae-gyu, who called the Democratic Party the “party that provoked martial law.” Shin argues that such language approaches the logic that martial law was justified. At the same time, figures who opposed martial law or supported impeachment, including Lee Jun-seok and Han Dong-hoon, have been attacked as traitors or communists. The author says the People Power Party’s rising support may reflect opposition to Lee’s government rather than enthusiasm for the party itself.

Shin attributes Lee’s vulnerability to the narrowness of his political base after years of deepening polarization. A period of favorable conditions, including summit diplomacy, rising stock prices and a semiconductor boom, expanded support but did not create a stable foundation. Since June, the election commission controversy, a stock-market collapse, soaring housing costs, a property-tax dispute, police corruption and appointment failures have burst that support bubble.

The article calls for three changes: governance reform built on consultation and deliberation, an inclusive coalition that rejects political extremes, and active efforts to restore trust. It says repeated reversals on housing, taxes and regulation have alienated both progressives and conservatives, while appointments and policy shifts have blurred the meaning of the government’s promise of pragmatism and unity.

“

The Democratic Party is the party that destroyed the Constitution and provoked martial law.