South Korea skeptical of summit

Moon’s approval rating falls to 49 percent in new Gallup poll

SEOUL, South Korea — The shine is starting to come off South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s engagement strategy with the North.

The liberal politician, who reversed nearly a decade of conservative hard-line policy toward North Korea after his election last year, is preparing for a third summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un amid growing public skepticism about his approach.

Moon, who goes to Pyongyang on Tuesday, has seen his approval rating fall to 49 percent in a recent Gallup Korea survey, the first time it dipped below 50 percent since he took office in May 2017 promising better ties with North Korea and political reform. Moon’s approval rating stood at 83 percent after his first summit with Kim in April.

South Koreans are divided over whether this week’s summit in Pyongyang will help break a stalemate over nuclear diplomacy between the U.S. and North Korea, according to another survey released in early September. By comparison, surveys after the April summit found overwhelming support for Moon from a public fascinated with the historic handshakes, border crossings and other dramatic scenes the two leaders produced after years of rising tensions.

“Our people are beginning to learn that North Korea will not easily give up its nukes, something that many experts had already repeatedly predicted,” said Kim Taewoo, former president of the government-funded Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.

Moon may face increasing difficulties if his summit with Kim in Pyongyang fails to make tangible progress on efforts to get North Korea to scrap its nuclear weapons program.

Economic woes such as a lackluster job-market growth and soaring real estate prices are compounding Moon’s problems, adding to opposition to his North Korea policy, many experts say.

“If Moon fails to address economic problems, he can’t maintain public contentment with his government only with his North Korea policy,” said Nam Sung-wook, a professor at Korea University. “If the economy gets worse, many people will demand that Moon stop looking to North Korea and start resolving our own economic problems.”

Moon knows how important public support is for his North Korea policy. Most major detente projects with North Korea started by his liberal predecessors during a 19982008 “Sunshine Era” were suspended after conservatives took power. Moon hasn’t been able to revive them because of U.s.-led economic sanctions on North Korea.