South Korea’s Yoon Suk-yeol takes aim at police as he battles record low approval ratings

Yoon Suk-yeol’s embattled administration has had to defend a proposal to assume greater control over law enforcement after it prompted police protests

Officers say the move would compromise their neutrality and hearkens back to the days of dictators. A minister compared their protests to a ‘coup’

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South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol has launched into a potentially explosive feud with the nation’s police force. Photo: Yonhap via EPA-EFE

Published: 12:03pm, 27 Jul 2022

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol was already struggling with surging inflation, rising Covid-19 cases and historically low approval numbers. Then, he launched into a potentially explosive feud with the nation’s police force.

Yoon spent Tuesday defending his proposal to create a “police bureau” and assume greater control over the powerful law enforcement agency, a move that has prompted protests by senior officers.

As his interior minister attempted to walk back comments comparing the demonstration to a “military coup”, Yoon accused the officers of a lesser offence, saying they may have displayed a “serious breach” of discipline.

Police officers respond to industrial action at a shipyard in Geoje, South Korea, earlier this month. Photo: Yonhap/dpa

The dust-up with the police is just the latest controversy to consume Yoon’s administration since his narrow election victory in March.

After his struggles to relocate the presidential offices and follow through on a pledge to close the Gender Equality Ministry, the conservative-backed administration has seen its approval rating sink below 40 per cent after two months in office – the first time that has happened for an elected South Korean president, according to a tracking poll by Realmeter.

The poll numbers, which have fallen more since then, have raised doubts about whether Yoon can recover. While he spends precious political capital over reforms, he is facing increasing public anger over inflation and runaway urban real estate prices.

“Yoon’s government is fighting needless battles as opposed to fighting some of the real problems of the country, such as the surges in the inflation rate and coronavirus cases,” said Lee Junhan, a political-science professor at the Incheon National University.