SEOUL-- President Yoon Suk-yeol on Thursday called for closer cooperation between the government and the ruling party as he focuses on improving people's livelihoods to regain trust from the public amid low approval ratings.
Yoon made the remarks during a dinner workshop of the ruling People Power Party held in Cheonan, 92 kilometers south of Seoul, the first of its kind since he took office in May.
"The party and the government must now become one, and once (we) only think about the people's livelihoods, all the difficult issues will be resolved, and the government and the party will receive the trust from the people," he said at the session attended by ruling party lawmakers as well as officials from the presidential office and the Cabinet.
Yoon also urged them to stop blaming the past administration, saying an "excuse" that difficult economic situations are inherited from the previous administration is "no longer working for the people."
Yoon's approval rating has remained low in recent weeks in the wake of controversies over personnel appointments and policy proposals.
His approval rating stood at 32 percent, according to a poll by Embrain Public, Kstat Research, Korea Research and Hankook Research released Thursday.
Before attending the dinner workshop, Yoon visited a command post to receive a report on the Ulchi civil defense drills running in parallel with the combined Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise between South Korea and the United States that kicked off Monday.
"I am confident that the national crisis management capability has been further improved, and the combined defense posture of South Korea and the U.S. has become more consolidated," he said during the visit, according to his office.
Yoon also visited the Joint Chiefs of Staff and called for an update to operational plans in response to nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.
"Measures to guarantee our people's lives and property need to be urgently prepared, such as updating the operational plans against North Korean nuclear and missile threats that are becoming a reality," he said.
The combined military exercise between the allies is set to run through Sept. 1.
Source: Yonhap News Agency