Kim Minseok: "In the First Year, the Party Benefited from the President... Responsibility for Rebounding Approval Ratings Lies with the Party"

Joint Conference of City and Provincial Party Committees
Live Broadcast of Party Work Reports

On September 15, Democratic Party leader Kim Minseok emphasized that the responsibility for reversing the declining approval ratings of the party and the government lies with the party, urging a renewed effort. He made it clear that this week should serve as the final line before further decline in support.

During a joint meeting of city and provincial party heads held at the Democratic Party headquarters that day, Kim said, “Looking at the bigger picture, during the first year of the term, the party benefitted from the president’s goodwill. Both the party and Korea have advanced so far thanks to the president’s personal leadership. In the June 3 local elections, due to various shortcomings, the results fell short of expectations, and since then, a combination of the end of the first-year honeymoon period and the need for general policy readjustment has led to a decline in approval ratings, which are now at a low point—that is the current reality.”

Yonhap News

Regarding this, Kim stated, “The primary responsibility for driving a rebound lies with the party. The party must take responsibility in its relationship with the presidential office and should take the lead in putting an end to the downward trend and initiating a recovery in approval ratings.” He continued, “I promised to raise the approval rating by 10 percentage points within 100 days since the party convention ended, and I remain determined to keep that promise.”

He also said, “Since this week marks one month since the party convention, I see it as the final line before further decline in approval ratings. We must approach today’s meeting with a determined and resolute mindset, determined to halt the drop and achieve a rebound.” In addition, Kim emphasized the need for the party to effectively shift into general election mode.

Kim also announced that internal party work reports would be broadcast live. He said, “The party headquarters has begun preparing to livestream the official work reports from each department in the Secretariat to both party members and the public, after receiving preliminary reports. The work reports will start with the Secretariat and continue through various standing special committees and task forces, with the city and provincial parties participating at various points.” He added, “During the live broadcast, representatives will have to ask and answer questions in real time, so you must be fully aware of your respective city or provincial party’s policies, finances, organization, and current issues, and be prepared with solutions.”

Kim also promised to strengthen the role of the city and provincial party heads’ meeting. He said, “Everyone knows that our government’s initiative was to introduce a Second State Council. The concept of the Second State Council can be seen as a joint meeting of city and provincial governors.” He added, “It would be beneficial to elevate the status and authority of the meeting of city and provincial party heads into what is effectively a second Supreme Council, overseeing local autonomy and regional parties for our party.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.