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A monitor at Seoul Station plays a broadcast of President Yoon Suk-yeol’s opening remarks at a Cabinet meeting on April 16, 2024. (Yonhap)

President Yoon Suk-yeol directly addressed the ruling People Power Party’s defeat in last week’s general elections at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. However, instead of reflecting on the one-sided approach to policy and governance that Korean voters soundly rejected at the polls, he once again revealed his arrogance and self-righteousness.
 
In his opening remarks at Tuesday’s meeting, Yoon said, “Despite trying our best to set the country in the right direction and implement relevant policies, it seems that we have fallen short of making enough change for the people to feel so.”
 
The presidential office later told reporters that the president stated, “I apologize to the people for not being observant of their needs and for not responding appropriately,” in a closed-door meeting. However, he did not offer any specifics for governmental reform.
 
Despite stating that he “humbly accept[s] the will of the people expressed in the general election,” Yoon characterized his administration’s past two years as one that “only had the people’s interest in mind while paving a way for the national interest.”
 
If anything, Yoon remained self-congratulatory, listing the policies he had implemented over the past two years, including monetary, real estate, nuclear power, and youth welfare policies, showing yet another kind of speech that he has become known for.
 
At the same time, he claimed to regret falling “short of making enough change for the people to feel so.” Instead of promising a revamp of his government, he’s whining that the public fails to see how good of a job he’s doing as president. As such, it is hard to expect a change in governmental policy or a substantive personnel reshuffle.

Despite becoming the first president since Korea’s Constitution was established in 1948 to face an opposition majority in the National Assembly for his entire five-year term, he repeated empty words about working closely with the legislative branch.
 
He did not respond to a proposal for talks from Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung. Nor did he issue public statements on issues caused by the presidential office which is thought to have lighted the flame of the public’s need to pass judgment on the administration, such as the scandalous appointment of his ambassador to Australia and first lady Kim Keon-hee’s luxury handbag scandal.
 
He also avoided specific comments on issues of public concern, such as the resolution of the monthslong conflict between the government and physicians. As usual, he repeated what he wanted to say rather than state what the people wanted to hear, and chose to read such sentiments in front of state officials rather than in front of the public.
 
Addenda to his speech, such as the claims stating that Yoon apologizes to the people and this openness to meeting with the leader of the opposition, were provided later by other presidential aides.

This message delivered by Yoon six days after the elections was all too disappointing, both in form and substance, and the apparent absence of any shift in stance from before the votes were tallied is shocking. 

For the president to say that he will continue running the country the way he has thus far, in a total dereliction of the will of the people borne out in the election, is no better than declaring war on the Korean public. 

Yoon can’t comprehend why nothing has changed despite all his lip service to “livelihoods” and “communication.” Does he expect to tell the people to change while he does not?

Yoon must reflect on why the Korean public is convinced that their president will never change. He’s losing touch with the public. 

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