Two weeks after his much-derided trip to the U.N. General Assembly, London and Ottawa, President Yoon Suk-yeol continues to hemorrhage public support.

As ever, much of the decline in his approval ratings appears due to forces entirely within his control. At the General Assembly, Yoon seemingly called U.S. lawmakers “bastards” in a hot mic incident the administration quickly tried to say never happened, then attacked the media for threatening “national security” when suppression failed.

Conservative and progressive media alike became temporary allies in defense of press freedoms, keeping the bastardgate controversy alive and well.

Now, just 24% of South