Pres. office, Cabinet to launch joint policy coordination body

The presidential Blue House and the Cabinet have decided to launch a joint consultative council to better coordinate government policies.

Officials said that the decision was made at a meeting on Sunday of the Cabinet members and senior presidential secretaries. The decision came amid a growing public outcry over the government's new tax scheme and plans to revamp the national health insurance.

The public backlash and rows over the reform policies are widely seen to have dragged down President Park Geun-Hye's approval rating below the 30 percent level recently, the lowest since she took office.

The new council will be comprised of two deputy prime ministers and other Cabinet members or senior presidential secretaries, who are related to certain pending issues at hand.