Challenges greet President Lee upon return as approval sinks below 50 percent

President Lee Jae Myung returned home Monday from his tour of the United States and South America, but the news upon coming back to Korea was hardly welcoming. A Realmeter poll showed that 50.5 percent of respondents disapproved of his performance — the first time his negative rating has surpassed 50 percent since he took office. His approval rating also fell to a record low of 45.9 percent.

During his seven-night, 11-day trip, the longest overseas tour of his presidency, Lee secured cooperation worth some $950 billion between Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and global technology giants, while also expanding agreements with Brazil, Chile and Argentina on critical minerals and energy supply chains. Yet there was little time for celebration. Just three hours after returning home, Lee convened a meeting to review the real estate and stock markets. The problems at home have reached a critical point, leaving little room to recover from the grueling diplomatic schedule.

The housing and stock markets are showing unprecedented signs of instability. The benchmark Kospi plunged 22.19 percent in July, its steepest monthly decline since the 23.13 percent drop during the global financial crisis in October 2008. After surpassing 9,000 in June, the index at one point fell below 6,000. The introduction of single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds has been cited as one factor behind the heightened volatility, and Kim Yong-beom, the presidential policy chief who spearheaded the measure, was sued on Monday on allegations including abuse of authority.

The government has been seeking solutions to the housing crisis through a series of public debates, but Seoul apartments continue to experience a “triple rise,” with sales prices, jeonse (lump-sum deposit) and monthly rents all climbing simultaneously. The tax reform announced on Monday, which focuses almost entirely on raising taxes, also risks creating further distortions.

The ruling Democratic Party’s public briefing on Monday on amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act was another case of putting the cart before the horse. The ruling party has pushed through sweeping changes to a criminal justice system that had remained in place for 72 years without sufficient deliberation and is now trying to sell the public on a supposedly “better” system. The backlash from victims and even some members of the ruling party underscores the deep divisions the legislation has created.

President Lee must squarely face the reality that his government and ruling party are causing public anxiety and confusion, and make his position clear. Controversial proposals, including a constitutional amendment to allow presidential re-election and an expansion of grounds for dismissing criminal cases inserted into the procedural law, will not be put to rest without a clear stance from the president.

With polls showing that more than 60 percent of the public opposes the criminal procedure amendments, the case for a presidential veto is growing stronger. This is the time for President Lee to demonstrate that he takes his constitutional duty to protect the safety and property of the people seriously.