President Yoon Suk-yeol has reportedly played golf three times in recent weekends. The presidential office explained that Yoon began practicing golf in preparation for diplomacy with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. The opposition criticized the president for “playing golf while people's lives are being ruined and security is collapsing.”

Yoon played golf at the Taereung Golf Club (Taereung CC) in Seoul on October 12 and on November 2 and 9, CBS No Cut News reported on November 13. The president also visited the golf course on August 31 and September 28, MBC reported, citing a Taereung CC official. He played golf five times on Saturdays.

Earlier, a senior presidential office official told reporters on November 11, “As far as I know, President-elect Trump is a regular golfer and has excellent skills,” adding, “and our president has started practicing golf because he needs to play golf pretty well in order to have a dialogue with Trump, and I think it is necessary.”

Representative Shin Young-dae of the Democratic Party of Korea asked Kim Sung-hoon, deputy chief of the presidential security service, at the National Assembly's special committee on budget settlement, “If he really needs to play golf with Trump, he should go to the practice range.” Kim replied, “If he goes to the practice range, the general public there will be restricted.”

“I think the president can use a holiday to play golf, and of course he can play golf,” Shin said, “but the issue of the appropriateness of the timing is being pointed out. In the case of October 12, the day before, North Korea issued a statement strongly condemning South Korea, claiming drone infiltration.” “November 2 was also the day when his approval rating dropped to 17 percent for the first time, and November 9 was the day he apologized to the public two days earlier.”

Shin told Park Sang-wook, senior presidential secretary for science and technology, “Please tell Yoon to study instead when he has time to play golf,” Shin said. Trump's tariffs could jeopardize the Korean economy, and he shouldn't be talking about it over golf.” Park said, “Our national security and policy office staffs have summarized and reported to the president on the changes in the Trump administration and he is studying.”

The ruling and opposition parties were divided. “Yoon started learning to play golf not because he likes golf, but to have a friendship and closeness with President Trump,” the People’s Power Party lawmaker, Yoon Sang-hyun, said on MBC radio the day before.

Democratic Party spokeswoman Hwang Jeong-ah, on the other hand, said, “I really want to know what Yoon is thinking, who goes out to play golf even when the public is outraged by his spouse's alleged manipulation of state affairs and public elections and his approval ratings are plummeting,” and criticized Yoon, saying, “It shows how disastrous and terrible his sense of responsibility for national affairs is.”