President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a press meeting at the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, May 7. Yonhap

President Yoon Suk Yeol will kick off his third year in office this week amid mixed assessments of his foreign and domestic policies but a clear need to improve communication with the public after a resounding defeat in general elections seen as a midterm referendum on him.

In the past year, Yoon helped restore trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the United States and Japan to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and pushed for medical reforms to address the chronic shortage of doctors in the country.

While stronger South Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation was welcomed by some, it was criticized by others for further alienating China, Russia and North Korea. Increasing the number of doctors, meanwhile, was popular with the general public but fiercely resisted by doctors' groups, leading to major disruptions to health care services.

"I agree with the direction in which he ran state affairs, but there was a lot lacking in the process of gaining the people's consent," said Shin Yul, a professor of political science at Myongji University.

The lack of effective communication proved to be costly.

On April 10, exactly one month before the administration's two-year mark, the ruling People Power Party suffered a crushing defeat in the general elections. With only 108 seats won in the 300-member National Assembly, the PPP again yielded control of parliament to the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, leaving Yoon to work with an opposition-controlled parliament for all five years of his term.

Yoon acknowledged the need to reset his running of state affairs.

"Although in the two years since my inauguration, I have looked only to the people and taken the path for our national interest, I fell short of the people's expectations," he said during a Cabinet meeting six days after the elections.

"I will communicate more with a humbler and more flexible attitude, and be the first to listen carefully to the public sentiment," he said.

Among other things, Yoon proposed a meeting with DPK leader Lee Jae-myung at the presidential office, the first time he agreed to sit down for talks with the opposition leader since taking office.

President Yoon Suk Yeol shakes hands with Lee Jae-myung, head of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, prior to their talks at the presidential office in Seoul, in this photo provided by presidential office, April 29. Yonhap

The two held wide-ranging discussions, including on the DPK's calls for a special counsel investigation into suspicions surrounding a Marine's death, but differed on almost every issue except for the need for medical reform.

In the days following the meeting, the ruling and opposition parties reached a compromise on a special bill mandating a new investigation into the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush that claimed 159 lives, a decision that was welcomed by the presidential office as the first fruit of the Yoon-Lee meeting.

In a sign of the difficulties that still lie ahead, however, the opposition-controlled National Assembly also passed a bill mandating a special counsel investigation into the military's response to the Marine's death, despite a boycott by the ruling party.

"Whether you like it or not, we're seeing a situation where the legislative authority and the executive authority have to be jointly responsible for the running of state affairs," Shin, the professor, said.

"Be it through another meeting between the president and the opposition leader, or through the formation of a consultative body involving the ruling and opposition parties and the government, they have to continue dialogue," he said. "It's not a choice but a necessity."

The public's assessment of Yoon's job performance was shown not only in the election result but also in his low approval ratings throughout the last year.

Most polls found Yoon's approval rating consistently hovering in the 30 percent range before it fell further to the 20 percent range after the elections.

To better gauge the public sentiment, Yoon revived the position of senior presidential secretary for civil affairs on Tuesday. On Thursday, he is set to hold his first press conference since August 2022. (Yonhap)