[Choice Times=Joo-hyun Park, CEO of Jaedam Entertainment]

The following article does not represent the editorial stance of this publication. It is published to present diverse perspectives. (Editor)

On the morning of New Year’s Day 2026, I nearly choked—not on a bowl of rice cake soup, but on the number 59%, President Lee’s approval rating. A figure approaching 60 percent. This is not a congratulatory remark.

As everyone knows, I despise conspiracy theories. Claims that opinion polls are rigged or machines are manipulated strike me as cowardly excuses made by losers. Believing in facts and data is the mark of an intelligent mind.

But when I saw today’s figure—59 percent—I began to doubt my own convictions. What if this number is not manipulated but factual? Then we must confront an even more horrifying conclusion: that half of the South Korean population has either suffered cognitive regression or entered a stage of collective reality denial.

Let’s do the math. Lee Jae-myung barely scraped past the finish line in the June presidential election, failing to secure a majority despite the once-in-a-generation windfall of Yoon Suk-yeol’s martial law fiasco. And what does his report card look like since taking office?

The economy is brain-dead. To keep the exchange rate from breaking 1,500 won per dollar, the government is burning the National Pension Fund—the future of the young and the lifeline of the elderly—as fuel. Small business closures have shattered the ceiling, and apartment prices have already blown past “Moon Jae-in Season 2” into Season 3. With the fallout from tariff negotiations, this year’s economy is set to implode even further.

National security has turned into a joke. Get caught spying and you get two years in prison; offend China and you get five—welcome to the miracle nation of selective rule of law. Gag laws loom to muzzle the public, and a special tribunal for “insurrection” has reduced the separation of powers to a scrap of paper.

Morality is even worse—a cesspool. Just look at the lawmakers. Seo Young-kyo and Jung Cheong-rae are entangled in allegations linked to the Unification Church. Kang Sun-woo is accused of selling nominations for 100 million won. Kim Byung-gi is under police investigation for no fewer than eleven charges. And let’s not forget Jang Kyung-tae. Criminal suspects dominate the National Assembly, swaggering about like characters in a live-action version of Crime City.

Economic collapse, security breakdown, rampant corruption, authoritarian legislation, and the destruction of the separation of powers. As this five-movement symphony of national ruin blares at full volume, the president’s approval rating jumps more than ten points above his election result and flirts with 60 percent?

Is this even politically possible? No matter how solid a base may be, human nature dictates that when wallets are emptied and the country falls apart, people turn away. Yet 60 percent are applauding and saying he’s doing well? This is not a difference of political opinion—it’s a malfunction of cognition.

Hypothesis one: collective intellectual regression. Like Pavlov’s dogs, people have been conditioned to salivate at the sound of partisan bells—even if their own food bowl is smashed. Thinking has stopped; only reflex remains.

Hypothesis two: desperate denial of reality—and this one is more terrifying. They know the country is falling apart. But admitting it would mean acknowledging that the messiah they chose was wrong. Unable to endure that self-negation, they shut their eyes and hypnotize themselves, chanting, “No, this is an age of prosperity.”

If the numbers aren’t manipulated, then this country has become a massive psychiatric ward. It’s a surreal scene where a ship is sinking, yet passengers shout “Captain, sugoi!”—“Amazing!”—as they calmly walk into the water.

I almost hope it is manipulation. Because if it isn’t, then we’re riding the same bus as a horde of zombies, speeding toward a cliff.

Are the numbers lying, or have the people gone mad? Either way, the beginning of 2026 in South Korea feels like the opening scene of a horror movie.

#ApprovalRatingShock #CollectiveDenial #KoreanPolitics