President Moon Jae-in, whose job approval rating fell again this week, is striving to win back public support, making more frequent on-site contact with the public ahead of the Lunar New Year’s holiday that starts Thursday.

According to a recent poll by Realmeter on Monday, his approval rating marked 39.3 percent, down 3.2 percentage points from a week ago. The fall came after his approval bounced back starting this year to remain in the 40 percent range for weeks.

Realmeter said political disputes over the government’s alleged plans to help North Korea build a nuclear power plant at the time of the 2018 inter-Korean summit negatively affected his job approval overall.

Last week, Cheong Wa Dae flatly denied the allegation in an unusually strong and prompt manner, calling the opposition’s claims “outdated ideological strife.”

“Cheong Wa Dae made all-out efforts to cut off the dispute,” a political analyst said on condition of anonymity. “They may have thought that the allegation could extend to Moon’s nuclear phase-out policy overall, affecting his state administration in the first half of this year.”

It is extremely difficult for a Korean president to maintain a high approval rating in the final year under the nation’s five-year single-term system. Compared to his predecessors, Moon still enjoys higher popularity.

Late President Kim Dae-jung, who is best known for his “Sunshine Policy” of engagement with North Korea, won 24 to 33 percent in approval ratings in the final year, while President Lee Myung-bak from the conservative bloc earned 23 to 25 percent ratings during the same period.

Observers say Moon needs to maintain his approval rating in the 40s not to become a “lame duck,” considering he won 41 percent of votes in the 2017 presidential election.

After a busy first month with diplomatic and political affairs, the president is expected to focus on people’s livelihood issues for the time being, including the COVID-19 vaccine campaign that starts later this month.

“The government will do its best to come up with sufficient measures in a bold manner within a range that finances can afford,” Moon said Monday at a meeting with senior aides, hinting at additional relief handouts to individuals and small businesses hit hard by the prolonged coronavirus pandemic.

During this week’s holiday, Moon plans to stay at his presidential residence and monitor the coronavirus response. During last year’s Chuseok holiday, he also did not visit Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, where his private residence is located, and instead stayed in Seoul to encourage front-line health care workers and other public servants. 

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)