(Bloomberg) -- South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol rejected a key proposal from opposition leader Lee Jae-myung at their first talks since Yoon took office, highlighting a rift between the two sides after the ruling party’s election defeat.

At a meeting on Monday that lasted for more than two hours, Yoon rejected Lee’s proposal to provide a one-time cash handout to all citizens for a total of 13 trillion won ($9.4 billion) as a way to stimulate the economy.

“The president’s position is that considering the impact of inflation, interest rates and government finances, it is favorable to provide targeted support to those in need under current circumstances,” Lee Do-woon, a spokesperson for the presidential office, said at a briefing. 

The meeting was initially seen as part of Yoon’s efforts to change his leadership style and reverse the impression of a top-down administration. His conservative People Power Party suffered a stinging defeat in the April 10 parliamentary election, which was widely seen as the only referendum on the president who has three years left in office. Support rating for Yoon is near an all-time low.

“I had high hopes for the meeting, but I could not find any changes,” Sungjoon Park, a spokesperson and lawmaker for the Democratic Party, said in a statement. Park said Lee was “frustrated and disappointed” after the meeting. 

While Yoon and Lee weren’t able to reach an agreement on the cash handouts, both sides recognized that increasing the medical school quota — an issue that led to a prolonged walkout by thousands of trainee doctors in protest of the plan — was “unavoidable,” said Lee, the presidential office spokesperson.

Yoon’s support rating was most recently at 24%, just slightly up from an all-time low of 23% the week before, according to a weekly poll released by Gallup Korea on Friday. Respondents with an unfavorable view of Yoon faulted him for his management of the economy and his communication skills.

Lee faces multiple challenges as well. After losing to Yoon in the 2022 presidential race by a razor-thin margin, he was indicted over a variety of bribery and breach of duty charges. 

--With assistance from Shinhye Kang.

(Updates with details of the meeting throughout)

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