Kim Min-seok faces biggest test one month into Democratic Party leadership

Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok has hit a stumbling block over personnel issues just over a month into his tenure. Anxiety within the ruling camp is deepening as nominees put forward in a second-round Cabinet reshuffle — intended to reverse a slide in approval ratings for President Lee Jae Myung and the ruling party — have fallen through one after another.

Friction within the ruling bloc continues over the appointment of a director for the Serious Crimes Investigation Office, set to open next month as a follow-up to prosecutorial reform, while calls are growing for the party to push through its remaining policy agenda at speed — even as the withdrawal of Kim Seung-won as justice minister nominee adds to a string of setbacks.

Kim has been working daily to contain outbursts from within and outside the party. On Tuesday, responding to a viewer comment on the Democratic Party's YouTube channel "Minti07" asking whether Rep. Kim Yong-min — who had called for the SCIO director nomination to be rescinded — should be removed from the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, Kim said, "When a final decision is reached, we must respect that decision as one that reflects the difficulties of the person who holds the appointment authority."

He added, "If that is not the case, one has no business being in the ruling party. When someone goes too far, it is right for the party to point that out and establish its own principles and discipline." He also said, "What is needed now is a moment to put ourselves in the other person's shoes — to look at them, and then to ask whether there is any speck of fault on our own side as well."

While President Lee's press conference halted the decline in approval ratings, the attempt to shift the political dynamic through personnel moves is widely seen as having failed. Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik offered his resignation to take responsibility, but criticism has also been directed at Kim, who had actively defended the Cabinet nominees, calling them "better appointments the more you look at them."

Kim had pledged at the party convention to raise approval ratings by 10 percentage points within 100 days of taking office, but concerns are growing that no clear catalyst for a rebound is in sight. A Realmeter survey of 2,507 adults aged 18 and older nationwide, conducted from Sept. 14 to 18, put President Lee's job approval rating at 34.8 percent, up 1.0 percentage point from the previous survey. A separate Realmeter poll of 1,003 respondents conducted Sept. 17 to 18 showed the Democratic Party's approval rating at 40.2 percent, up 4.1 percentage points from the prior survey.

Sustaining that momentum will require the various party bodies Kim has established to deliver tangible results during the regular National Assembly session, analysts say. More than 30 special committees and task forces have been created within the party since Kim took office. On Tuesday, Kim attended the launch ceremonies of the Animal Welfare TF and the Wartime Operational Control Transfer Promotion Committee.

A senior party leadership lawmaker said the president's press conference had stopped the approval rating decline and produced some movement, but added, "The Kim Min-seok leadership has spent this period organizing various structures and defining what needs to be done — the remaining 100 days remains to be seen."