Philosopher Doh-ol encourages Lee Jae-myung to look beyond approval ratings

Philosopher Doh-ol Kim Yong-ok encouraged President Lee Jae-myung to govern on principle rather than chase poll numbers, saying the public would trust a leader who moves forward with the right convictions regardless of approval ratings.

Doh-ol appeared Tuesday on "Minti07," a live broadcast on the Democratic Party of Korea's YouTube channel "Democratic Party TV," where he advised politicians to look at the broader currents of public sentiment. "When an unjust situation arises, the people rise up righteously," he said.

When the host brought up the Dec. 3 martial law crisis, Doh-ol said the most moving moment for him was watching President Lee make a tearful appeal to the public as he headed to the National Assembly, with his wife Kim Hye-kyung weeping by his side. "Looking at the process of getting to today from such an uncertain situation, you can really feel how mature our politics and the public's consciousness have become," he said.

"There is an undercurrent in the people that does not easily sway with the winds," he went on to say. "Politicians need to see that."

He said it was still too early to evaluate President Lee's first year in office.

"President Lee is someone who works without rest," Doh-ol said. "Even if there are minor shortcomings, now is not the time to pass judgment on them."

"We need to give it a little more time. This is a period for gathering strength and finding harmony," he said, adding that he believed the right leader was guiding the country at a time when "K-democracy" needed to be completed and a new style of leadership was called for.

Doh-ol also said that "fundamentally breaking free from factional logic and pushing forward on one's own convictions is pragmatism," and that Lee needed to hold firm in the belief that the public would come to recognize the results of that path.

He did offer some pointed criticism of government policy and personnel decisions.

On the proposal to build apartments on the Yongsan Park site vacated by US forces, Doh-ol said it did not strike him as a particularly good idea and suggested the land be preserved as green space. He also said that pursuing major reform tasks — such as consolidating government agencies and relocating them to the regions — would require identifying talent based on ability rather than name recognition.

He also took aim at the Democratic Party's engagement with younger voters, saying the party lacked sufficient depth of understanding and should not view young people through the lens of conventional politics.

Doh-ol first drew wide attention in January 2022, during the presidential election campaign, when he sat down with Lee and said, "This is a person sent by heaven. How else could someone have come this far if it were not the will of heaven?"