Criticism Grows: Apology Should Come Before Blaming the Media Over Foreign Workers Remark
Voices Say Apology, Not Media Blame, Should Come First
Criticism is spreading over President Lee Jae-myung's "foreign workers remark." According to summary information, the core of the criticism centers not on the impact of the remark itself but on the manner of response. Critics continue to argue that the presidential office should apologize for the remark before taking issue with media coverage. The reporting summary conveys the spread of the criticism: "apologize before blaming the media."
The structure of the matter is simple. After a particular remark was made public, public opinion reacted negatively, and as the presidential office or ruling party turned to blaming press coverage, a secondary controversy erupted. Politically speaking, this is a phase commonly called a "framing war." Instead of the original issue of the remark, fighting continues over where responsibility should lie.
The Lee Jae-myung Government's Communication Style Under Scrutiny
President Lee Jae-myung has emphasized direct communication since taking office. He broke convention by having the head of an investigative agency attend State Council meetings, calling it "the normalization of the abnormal," and urged attendance, saying, "You don't have to come if you're busy, but please come at least once a month." He has placed significant weight on expanding channels of communication. For that reason, there is ample room for criticism that responding to every remark controversy by pointing at media coverage deviates from the communication standard his own government has set.
In fact, People Power Party lawmaker Kim Geun-sik has directly criticized the president, saying, "Even over the election results, he takes no blame himself," and "Stop blaming others and look at yourself first." The current foreign workers remark controversy appears to layer onto that same critical frame. From the opposition's perspective, targeting a repeated pattern of "responsibility-avoiding responses" rather than the problem of each individual remark is far more efficient. The moment the ruling party sets its line of defense on distorted media coverage, the axis of debate shifts from the content of the remark to the president's attitude.
Meanwhile, in the golf controversy on the day of the Daegu ceiling collapse accident, the presidential office countered Rep. Joo Jin-woo's claims as "spreading false information," and the same response was repeated regarding suspicions surrounding First Lady Kim Hye-kyung. With this latest matter added, critics point out as a political risk the accumulating impression of "instant rebuttals to allegations, but no apologies for one's own responsibility."
Impact on Approval Ratings and Governing Momentum
The bigger problem is the direction of the drift in public opinion. Prime Minister Kim Min-seok has attributed the decline in approval ratings to the departure of centrist voters and internal party conflict. Unlike devoted supporters of a particular camp, centrists respond to the president's posture and attitude rather than policy details. Analysts say that if the impression solidifies that the president consistently chooses defense over apology in every remark controversy, it will cost considerably to win back centrist voters who have drifted away.
The governing schedule adds to the burden. President Lee faces a remand retrial in his election law case, and the Democratic Party is pushing to pass a special counsel bill on fabricated indictments during the regular National Assembly session. At a time when legal and political defenses are needed simultaneously, if an ordinary remark controversy is not managed and keeps spreading, the energy the ruling party should devote to passing bills will inevitably be diverted to countering public criticism.
Timeliness of the Apology Is Key
In the end, the key is time. From a political-engineering standpoint, whether a remark controversy spreads in a second wave is usually decided by the response within the first 48 hours. A clear apology or explanation that ends the issue early reduces the opposition's grounds for attack, while maintaining a stance of blaming the media prolongs the controversy and stockpiles ammunition for opposition offensives. The criticism captured in the summary, "apologize before blaming the media," can be read as targeting precisely this issue of timeliness.
If the president applies the "normalization of the abnormal" standard he himself championed to communication as well, transparent explanation and acknowledgment of what needs to be acknowledged should come first whenever an issue arises. Otherwise, regardless of how trivial each remark may be, controversies over attitude will likely pile up layer by layer and erode his support base. One saying rings less like wisdom than it should: just as one should act not because success is likely but because it is right, keeping the order—responsible response first, political calculation later—is ultimately the way to protect his approval rating.
