Hong Joon-pyo warns Lee's approval rating could 'plummet to 20s' as youth flee

Former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo issued a warning to President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday, saying his approval rating "could plummet into the 20s" if things continue as they are, and that young people in particular would all walk away.

Hong made the remarks in a Facebook post, writing that he had begun to think "it would be hard to expect any more" from the president.

Citing controversies surrounding Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won and Gender Equality and Family Minister nominee Yong Hye-in, Hong said he had viewed President Lee's pragmatism as "a project to transcend the extremes of both the conservative and progressive camps," adding, "Running the country is no joke."

In a separate earlier Facebook post, Hong said confirmation hearings lately have been surfacing "all manner of things going back to childhood," calling the ongoing hearing for the justice minister nominee "truly astonishing."

Meanwhile, Cheong Wa Dae said its position is that nominees must, as a matter of principle, go through the confirmation hearing process.

A Cheong Wa Dae official accompanying President Lee on a state visit to France told reporters in Paris on Monday (local time) that "the confirmation hearing system itself is, as I understand it, a process of public vetting of nominees." The official added that because a nominee is named through the personnel system under the responsibility of the personnel committee chair, "they should go through a confirmation hearing."

The official also said the administration would "establish and strengthen the personnel vetting system so that it meets the public's expectations."