President Yoon Suk-yeol takes reporters' questions from the presidential press corps as he arrives at his office in central Seoul, Friday. According to a recent survey, Yoon's approval rating has fallen to a new low of 33 percent, Thursday. Yonhap

By Kwon Mee-yoo

President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating is on a downward trajectory just two months after his inauguration with some saying the political novice has failed to lay out a clear vision for the country amid global recessionary risks.

His approval rating declined sharply during the past few weeks, entering a "death cross," as negative feedback for the president outstripped his support rate. Yoon has continuously blamed the previous administration without providing a better alternative as well as facing accusations of nepotism regarding his questionable personnel appointments.

According to a survey of 1,001 adults in Korea from July 11 to 13, co-conducted by Embrain Public, KSTAT Research, Korea Research and Hankook Research, only 33 percent answered Yoon is performing his duties well, while 53 percent said he was not.

Those who supported Yoon said he is decisive (28 percent), communicates with the public well (18 percent) and is just and fair (18 percent).

The biggest reason for the negative evaluation of Yoon's presidential performance was due to being too dogmatic and unilateral (30 percent), followed by lacking experience and competence (28 percent) and appointing unsuitable people to the Cabinet (16 percent). More details are available on the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission's website.

Experts say that Yoon should put more effort into winning the public over, especially in the early part of his presidency as he only just managed to win the presidential election with a slim margin of just 0.73 of a percentage point.

Yoon's win is largely thanks to the centrists and swing voters, but these groups can also turn their back on him easily as a string of disputes, questionable personnel appointments and the deteriorating state of the nation's economy are starting to be noticed more by the public.

Bae Cheol-ho, a senior analyst at survey company Realmeter, said Yoon should come up with some momentum to rebound amid a series of controversies over Yoon and first lady, Kim Keon-hee who hired personal contacts and put them into public posts, thereby shaking the trust given to the Yoon administration.

"The gap between the positive and negative assessments widens and public sentiment is moving from worry to resentment," Bae said.

Eom Gyeong-yeong, director of the political think tank, Zeitgeist Institute, pointed out that Yoon does not have a strong support base.

"Yoon won the presidential election because of anti-Moon Jae-in and anti-Lee Jae-myung voters who turned to Yoon. He does not have a base of support like former President Park Geun-hye's supporters ― such as the over 60s group in the Gyeongsang provinces," Eom said.

The Yoon administration continues to emphasize the "wrongdoings" of the previous administration as President Yoon seeks to differentiate himself from former President Moon Jae-in.

Choi Jin, head of the Presidential Leadership Institute, urged President Yoon to find a breakthrough by putting more care and attention toward public wellbeing.

"It is natural for an administration to solve problems caused by the previous government after a change of government. However, it should be done in a rapid and sophisticated way. If his approval rate dips down even further, he could face the possibility of being an early lame duck," Choi said.