Na Kyung-won tops poll for GNP chairman

Na Kyung-won, a former GNP spokeswoman based in Seoul, came in first in an opinion poll that asked who should be elected to lead the ruling party.

That’s significant because the election, to be held July 4, factors in the results of public opinion polls when choosing the party leader.

On July 4, about 214,000 GNP lawmakers will elect their new chairman and five representatives. The ballots of the lawmakers account for 70 percent of the score for each candidate, while the remaining 30 percent comes from opinion polls that will be held by the party.

On June 25, Hankook Research surveyed 800 adults asking the same questions the party will use in its polls. The polling was done by random telephone calls.

Na was chosen by 25.9 percent of the respondents as the best leader for the party. Representative Hong Joon-pyo received 22.3 percent of the votes and current Secretary General Won Hee-ryong received 15.4 percent.

Nam Kyung-pil, a four-term lawmaker who currently heads the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee, scored 13 percent.

Three other candidates received less than ten percent: Yoo Seong-min, a close aide of the party’s former chairwoman Park Geun-hye (8.1 percent); Park Jin, a lawmaker based in Seoul (5.6 percent); and Kwon Young-se (2.9 percent).

In its survey, Hankook Research also asked about several hot political issues. On the topic of lowering college tuitions in Korea, 45.5 percent of the 800 respondents said they supported the GNP’s plan, which would lower tuitions by 30 percent over the next three years, while 44.0 percent favored the opposition Democratic Party demand that tuitions be reduced by 50 percent from 2012.

Asked if they thought it was possible to lower tuitions by allowing universities to dip into their reserves or by reforming badly run universities, 47.8 percent of the respondents were positive, while 46.5 percent said it was impossible.

Among the respondents, 55 percent of 168 people living in Seoul said they preferred implementing free school lunches gradually, while 37.4 percent said they wanted the free lunch program in all schools immediately.

When asked about the 2012 presidential election, former GNP chairwoman Park remained at the top of the poll with 37.1 percent, beating out DP chairman Sohn Hak-kyu who received only 8 percent. In a May poll, Park received 35.3 percent of the votes compared to Sohn’s 12 percent.

By Shin Chang-woon [heejin@joongang.co.kr]

한글 관련 기사 [중앙일보]

나경원 26% 홍준표 22%

한나라 당 대표 경선출마 7인
중앙일보, 일반인 800명 여론조사

한나라당 전당대회의 당 대표 경선에 출마한 7명의 후보들에 대한 일반인의 여론을 물은 결과 나경원 후보가 1위, 홍준표 후보가 2위, 원희룡 후보가 3위를 차지했다. 남경필 후보는 4위, 유승민 후보는 5위에 올랐다. 중앙일보와 YTN, 동아시아연구원(EAI)이 25일 한국리서치에 의뢰해 전국 성인 남녀 800명을 대상으로 실시한 여론조사 결과다.

다음 달 4일 실시되는 전당대회에서 대표에 도전하는 7명의 후보 중 지지하는 두 명을 선택하도록 물은 이번 조사의 설문은 한나라당이 한국갤럽 등 3개 조사전문기관에 의뢰해 실시하는 방식과 동일하게 설계했다. 조사 결과는 나 후보 25.9%, 홍 후보 22.3%, 원 후보 15.4%, 남 후보 13.0%, 유 후보 8.1%, 박진 후보 5.6%, 권영세 후보 2.9% 순이다. 나·홍 후보는 한나라당 지지층에서 다른 후보들보다 더 높은 지지를 받고 있는 걸로 조사됐다.

당 대표를 포함해 최고위원 5명을 뽑는 이번 경선에선 21만2400명에 달하는 대의원·당원 선거인단 투표 결과(70%)와 3개 여론조사 기관이 각각 1000명의 일반인을 상대로 후보들의 지지율을 물은 결과(30%)를 합산해 순위를 매긴다. 따라서 일반인 여론조사와 다른 결과가 나올 수 있다. 　