Moon has hit approval ratings not seen in South Korea for nearly a decade by standing in deliberate contrast to his disgraced and impeached predecessor
He removes his own jacket, brushing off an aide who tried to take it off like a butler. He takes questions from journalists without vetting them first. He gets a $3 lunch with employees at a Blue House cafeteria and tweets about his adopted cats and dogs, who found a new home in the presidential palace.
That may seem unremarkable elsewhere, but newly elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s “common man” touch is being feted in a country more used to authoritarian rule by aloof leaders.
High approval ratings
Moon has hit approval ratings not seen in South Korea for nearly a decade by standing in deliberate contrast to his disgraced and impeached predecessor, Park Geun-hye. She was widely reviled for her disconnected style even before the damaging bribery scandal that brought her down in March.
The infatuation may be short-lived if Moon fails to deliver on key election promises that resonated with the public, such as boosting jobs and welfare, reforming powerful family-run conglomerates and easing tensions over North Korea’s fast accelerating weapons programs.
“Naturally, Moon is having a honeymoon period, ” said Daniel Tudor, an author of several books on Korean society and politics who briefly advised the Moon campaign. “So far everything Moon has done has shown that he has emotional concern for the average person.”
Moon’s approval rating hit 75 percent, according to polling firm Realmeter. Park’s was at 55 percent in her first week in 2012, before hitting an all-time low of 4 percent in March.
