Once Seen as Divisive, S. Korea's New Leader Lee Tries the Charm Offensive

His accessibility and willingness to listen contrast with predecessor's aloofness

- Choe Sang-hun

SEOUL - When President Lee Jae Myung visited Sancheong, a county in southern South Korea where 14 people were killed in floods and landslides in July, he did something that his unpopular predecessor had refused to do: meet those affected by the deadly disasters.

"I am sorry," he said to villagers. "No sir, it was nature at work," one of them responded. "Even the President couldn't have done anything."

Such small yet repeated episodes of the President interacting with people, captured by TV cameras, have resonated throughout South Korea since Mr. Lee took office in early June.

His appearance of being accessible and a listener, honed when he was a mayor and a provincial governor, is a tactic that is working well for him as president, too.

It is a contrast with Yoon Suk Yeol, his conservative rival who was impeached and ousted after declaring martial law.

Mr. Lee's human touch has helped him launch his new administration with strong approval ratings, only weeks after an election in which many expressed deep suspicions about him.

When he was the opposition leader, he was blamed along with Yoon for South Korea's deep political polarization, which had paralyzed the government; Mr. Lee was as confrontational towards Yoon as Yoon was dismissive of Mr. Lee.

As President, he has adopted a more approachable style in an effort to mend a country that he has said was on the verge of civil war. He pledged greater national unity when he took office, even as police and prosecutors went after his vanquished political enemies.