The Koreas | Politics | East Asia

Lee Jae-myung Is a New Kind of President – and South Koreans Approve

Lee has redefined the South Korean executive by trading imperial secrecy for radical transparency and focusing on tangible results.

While the first year of a South Korean presidency is often dismissed as a mere “honeymoon” period fueled by high public expectations, the sustained popularity of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung – whose approval ratings are hovering around 60 percent – suggests a different catalyst: administrative competence. 

As of March 2026, Lee’s approval ratings are increasingly viewed not as a byproduct of his recent inauguration, but as a direct result of a governance style that prioritizes tangible results over ceremonial rhetoric. Since taking office last June, Lee has utilized his executive mandate to implement a high-velocity administrative agenda. To international observers, his popularity might appear as a populist anomaly, but a detailed analysis suggests a more methodical cause. Lee has successfully rebranded the presidency as a high-performance contract built on four distinct pillars: policy consistency, transactional diplomacy, radical communication, and a servant-leader philosophy.

The bedrock of Lee’s political identity is an almost obsessive adherence to policy consistency. Unlike previous leaders, whose campaign promises often dissolved into bureaucratic inertia, Lee arrived at the Blue House with a proven track record of administrative efficacy. During his tenure as mayor of Seongnam (2010 to 2018) and then Gyeonggi Province governor (2018 to 2021), his campaign promise fulfillment rate was documented at between 94 percent to 96 by the Korea Manifesto Center. 

Making this credibility all the more impressive, Lee inherited a Seongnam on the brink of bankruptcy. In a move that shocked the political establishment, he declared a moratorium on more than 500 billion won (roughly $370 million) in debt run up by his predecessor. He then implemented a fiscal austerity program, moving his own office to a lower floor of the city hall and cutting administrative perks to prioritize debt repayment.

Crucially, Lee’s approach to welfare is rooted not in debt-driven spending but in fiscal efficiency, as he showed in Seongnam. Rather than raising taxes or issuing new bonds, he funded signature welfare programs – such as the Basic Income policy and the Youth Dividend – by aggressively cutting administrative waste and eliminating leakage in the city budget. Framing welfare as the dividend of an honest government rather than a burden on the treasury is central to his appeal. By the time Lee graduated the city from the debt moratorium three-and-a-half years later, he had proven that fiscal responsibility and social expansion are not mutually exclusive.

His transition to the governorship of Gyeonggi Province in 2018 served as a critical laboratory for scaling these principles to a population of 13 million. It was here that Lee cemented his reputation as a legal breaker of entrenched interests. He gained national acclaim for the forceful restoration of public valleys, where he dismantled illegal structures operated by local cartels that had monopolized natural resources for decades. Furthermore, he pioneered the mandate for CCTVs in operating rooms – a move aimed at ensuring patient safety and medical transparency. Despite fierce opposition from powerful professional lobbies, Lee’s refusal to blink in the face of institutional pushback reinforced his image as a leader who prioritizes public interest over bureaucratic or elite consensus.

His consistency is best exemplified by the transition of Basic Income from a provincial experiment to a national economic strategy. Following the 2025 election, his administration implemented a universal stimulus of 250,000 won ($185) per citizen. The funds were issued in local currency, usable only at neighborhood businesses and traditional markets. While critics warned of a fiscal crisis, Lee pointed to his Seongnam record, arguing that welfare is a strategic economic stimulus funded by streamlined government operations. According to reports from state-run research institutes and local media, this mechanism has triggered a sharp increase in the money multiplier effect within local districts, validating a narrative of fiscally neutral growth.

Beyond domestic policy, Lee has displayed an unexpected mastery of transactional diplomacy. Despite having no formal diplomatic experience before assuming the presidency, he has a natural aptitude for interpersonal statecraft. Bonding with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva over their shared histories of childhood poverty and labor activism created a rare emotional shorthand between Seoul and Brasília. Even in the friction-filled relationship with Tokyo, Lee has managed to maintain stability. Despite the hard-right leanings of Japanese Prime Minister Takaich Sanae, the two leaders displayed unexpected chemistry during their recent summit, which famously concluded with both leaders joining in an impromptu drum performance.

More critically, Lee has positioned South Korea as a vital buffer zone in the rivalry between China and Japan. During the APEC summit, which South Korea hosted, Lee utilized a high-stakes summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping to de-escalate tensions. When Xi presented him with a Chinese smartphone as a gift, Lee joked by asking if the device contained any backdoor surveillance software. The remark, while humorous, allowed Lee to address sensitive security concerns directly without formal confrontation, signaling a normalization of ties based on mutual realism. 

Lee’s tactical pragmatism reached a crescendo during the summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. Amid high-pressure negotiations over trade tariffs, Lee secured a long-sought national priority: Washington’s consent for Seoul to develop nuclear-powered submarines. By framing the agreement within the context of transactional burden-sharing, Lee achieved a breakthrough that had eluded his predecessors for decades, proving an ability to navigate the “America First” landscape. 

Lee’s disruptive communication capability further cements his influence. For decades, the South Korean presidency was an imperial institution, where the leader’s intent was filtered through layers of press secretaries. Lee has shattered this paradigm by utilizing social media as a real-time governance dashboard. Originating in Seongnam, his habit of using Facebook to receive direct reports from citizens – at one point photographing broken sidewalk blocks and tagging city officials for repairs – has scaled to the national level.

As president, Lee has taken transparency a step further by ordering the live broadcasting of Cabinet meetings. The rationale for this move is characteristically pragmatic: broadcasting the process ensures that ministers remain tense and prepared, knowing the public is watching their competence in real-time. The Lee administration’s recent entry into TikTok and personal monitoring of citizen comments on X are not mere PR stunts; they are data-gathering missions. Bypassing traditional media gatekeepers allows Lee to maintain a direct pulse on the electorate, creating a feedback loop that makes supporters feel like active participants in the administration.

Finally, Lee’s popularity is anchored in a deep-seated belief in the servant-leader model of democracy. This is rooted in the constitutional principle that all power emanates from the people. As mayor of Seongnam, moving the executive office from a secluded top floor to the second floor opened the space to citizens, reinforcing the message that they were the true owners of the city. He famously told visiting children that he was merely their hired help.

Adherence to the servant-leader model remains the core of his presidency. Before his election, Lee repeatedly stated that he did not desire the status of the presidency but the authority of the office to effect change. Since taking office, he has maintained a posture of humility, framing himself as a chief laborer or a mercenary hired by the public to perform a specific job. This approach has begun to transcend partisan lines, as even moderate voters value the efficiency of a work-first mentality. 

By redefining the role of the president as a high-accountability servant of the public will, Lee is proving that administrative talent, rather than political theater, is the most sustainable fuel for a presidency.

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While the first year of a South Korean presidency is often dismissed as a mere “honeymoon” period fueled by high public expectations, the sustained popularity of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung – whose approval ratings are hovering around 60 percent – suggests a different catalyst: administrative competence. 

As of March 2026, Lee’s approval ratings are increasingly viewed not as a byproduct of his recent inauguration, but as a direct result of a governance style that prioritizes tangible results over ceremonial rhetoric. Since taking office last June, Lee has utilized his executive mandate to implement a high-velocity administrative agenda. To international observers, his popularity might appear as a populist anomaly, but a detailed analysis suggests a more methodical cause. Lee has successfully rebranded the presidency as a high-performance contract built on four distinct pillars: policy consistency, transactional diplomacy, radical communication, and a servant-leader philosophy.

The bedrock of Lee’s political identity is an almost obsessive adherence to policy consistency. Unlike previous leaders, whose campaign promises often dissolved into bureaucratic inertia, Lee arrived at the Blue House with a proven track record of administrative efficacy. During his tenure as mayor of Seongnam (2010 to 2018) and then Gyeonggi Province governor (2018 to 2021), his campaign promise fulfillment rate was documented at between 94 percent to 96 by the Korea Manifesto Center. 

Making this credibility all the more impressive, Lee inherited a Seongnam on the brink of bankruptcy. In a move that shocked the political establishment, he declared a moratorium on more than 500 billion won (roughly $370 million) in debt run up by his predecessor. He then implemented a fiscal austerity program, moving his own office to a lower floor of the city hall and cutting administrative perks to prioritize debt repayment.

Crucially, Lee’s approach to welfare is rooted not in debt-driven spending but in fiscal efficiency, as he showed in Seongnam. Rather than raising taxes or issuing new bonds, he funded signature welfare programs – such as the Basic Income policy and the Youth Dividend – by aggressively cutting administrative waste and eliminating leakage in the city budget. Framing welfare as the dividend of an honest government rather than a burden on the treasury is central to his appeal. By the time Lee graduated the city from the debt moratorium three-and-a-half years later, he had proven that fiscal responsibility and social expansion are not mutually exclusive.

His transition to the governorship of Gyeonggi Province in 2018 served as a critical laboratory for scaling these principles to a population of 13 million. It was here that Lee cemented his reputation as a legal breaker of entrenched interests. He gained national acclaim for the forceful restoration of public valleys, where he dismantled illegal structures operated by local cartels that had monopolized natural resources for decades. Furthermore, he pioneered the mandate for CCTVs in operating rooms – a move aimed at ensuring patient safety and medical transparency. Despite fierce opposition from powerful professional lobbies, Lee’s refusal to blink in the face of institutional pushback reinforced his image as a leader who prioritizes public interest over bureaucratic or elite consensus.

His consistency is best exemplified by the transition of Basic Income from a provincial experiment to a national economic strategy. Following the 2025 election, his administration implemented a universal stimulus of 250,000 won ($185) per citizen. The funds were issued in local currency, usable only at neighborhood businesses and traditional markets. While critics warned of a fiscal crisis, Lee pointed to his Seongnam record, arguing that welfare is a strategic economic stimulus funded by streamlined government operations. According to reports from state-run research institutes and local media, this mechanism has triggered a sharp increase in the money multiplier effect within local districts, validating a narrative of fiscally neutral growth.

Beyond domestic policy, Lee has displayed an unexpected mastery of transactional diplomacy. Despite having no formal diplomatic experience before assuming the presidency, he has a natural aptitude for interpersonal statecraft. Bonding with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva over their shared histories of childhood poverty and labor activism created a rare emotional shorthand between Seoul and Brasília. Even in the friction-filled relationship with Tokyo, Lee has managed to maintain stability. Despite the hard-right leanings of Japanese Prime Minister Takaich Sanae, the two leaders displayed unexpected chemistry during their recent summit, which famously concluded with both leaders joining in an impromptu drum performance.

More critically, Lee has positioned South Korea as a vital buffer zone in the rivalry between China and Japan. During the APEC summit, which South Korea hosted, Lee utilized a high-stakes summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping to de-escalate tensions. When Xi presented him with a Chinese smartphone as a gift, Lee joked by asking if the device contained any backdoor surveillance software. The remark, while humorous, allowed Lee to address sensitive security concerns directly without formal confrontation, signaling a normalization of ties based on mutual realism. 

Lee’s tactical pragmatism reached a crescendo during the summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. Amid high-pressure negotiations over trade tariffs, Lee secured a long-sought national priority: Washington’s consent for Seoul to develop nuclear-powered submarines. By framing the agreement within the context of transactional burden-sharing, Lee achieved a breakthrough that had eluded his predecessors for decades, proving an ability to navigate the “America First” landscape. 

Lee’s disruptive communication capability further cements his influence. For decades, the South Korean presidency was an imperial institution, where the leader’s intent was filtered through layers of press secretaries. Lee has shattered this paradigm by utilizing social media as a real-time governance dashboard. Originating in Seongnam, his habit of using Facebook to receive direct reports from citizens – at one point photographing broken sidewalk blocks and tagging city officials for repairs – has scaled to the national level.

As president, Lee has taken transparency a step further by ordering the live broadcasting of Cabinet meetings. The rationale for this move is characteristically pragmatic: broadcasting the process ensures that ministers remain tense and prepared, knowing the public is watching their competence in real-time. The Lee administration’s recent entry into TikTok and personal monitoring of citizen comments on X are not mere PR stunts; they are data-gathering missions. Bypassing traditional media gatekeepers allows Lee to maintain a direct pulse on the electorate, creating a feedback loop that makes supporters feel like active participants in the administration.

Finally, Lee’s popularity is anchored in a deep-seated belief in the servant-leader model of democracy. This is rooted in the constitutional principle that all power emanates from the people. As mayor of Seongnam, moving the executive office from a secluded top floor to the second floor opened the space to citizens, reinforcing the message that they were the true owners of the city. He famously told visiting children that he was merely their hired help.

Adherence to the servant-leader model remains the core of his presidency. Before his election, Lee repeatedly stated that he did not desire the status of the presidency but the authority of the office to effect change. Since taking office, he has maintained a posture of humility, framing himself as a chief laborer or a mercenary hired by the public to perform a specific job. This approach has begun to transcend partisan lines, as even moderate voters value the efficiency of a work-first mentality. 

By redefining the role of the president as a high-accountability servant of the public will, Lee is proving that administrative talent, rather than political theater, is the most sustainable fuel for a presidency.

Mitch Shin is a chief correspondent for The Diplomat, covering the Korean Peninsula. He is also a non-resident research fellow at the Central European Institute of Asian Studies and associate fellow for the Swedish Institute of International Affairs.

Lee Jae-myung approval rating

South Korea presidential system

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