Public closely split over which party should win next presidential election
Published: 10 Feb. 2025, 18:23
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- MICHAEL LEE
- [email protected]
![President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, passes by Democratic Party leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung at a ceremony marking Memorial Day at the National Cemetery in Seoul on June 6, 2024. The two men ran against each other in the 2022 presidential election, and Lee remains the frontrunner for the DP's presidential nomination in the next race. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/02/10/1eb2e08d-a58d-4573-8e08-ed527de19401.jpg)
President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, passes by Democratic Party leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung at a ceremony marking Memorial Day at the National Cemetery in Seoul on June 6, 2024. The two men ran against each other in the 2022 presidential election, and Lee remains the frontrunner for the DP's presidential nomination in the next race. [YONHAP]
Koreans are closely divided on whether they want to see the liberal Democratic Party (DP) take control of the presidency or if the conservative People Power Party (PPP) should retain power, according to a public opinion survey released on Monday.
The survey, which was conducted by the polling company Realmeter from Feb. 6 to 7 and questioned 1,002 adults aged 18 and older, found that 49.2 percent of respondents want the next president to be a liberal, while 45.2 percent said they want the presidency to be retained by a conservative.
Just over 5 percent of respondents said they were unsure which political bloc should control the presidency.
The survey had a confidence interval of 95 percent and a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
The findings of the latest poll show a 0.1 percentage point increase in favor of a liberal president compared to the previous Realmeter survey. Support for another conservative taking over the presidency decreased by 0.8 percentage points.
The survey found that support for another conservative president was highest in the southeastern city of Daegu and the surrounding province of North Gyeongsang, where 65.1 percent of respondents said they did not want to see the executive branch change hands.
Support for a conservative successor to impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol was also high in Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang, where 51.5 percent of respondents said they would back a conservative candidate for the presidency.
By contrast, 69.3 percent of respondents in the southwestern Jeolla region, which includes Gwangju, North and South Jeolla provinces, said they would want to see a liberal take the presidency.
Similarly, 56.4 percent of respondents in the central Chungcheong region and 51.1 percent in Seoul said they want the next president to come from the liberal bloc.
However, opinions were more closely divided in Incheon and Gyeonggi, where 46.3 percent said they would back a conservative to succeed Yoon against 47.4 percent who said they would support a liberal.
Respondents aged 70 and over exhibited the highest support for another conservative president among all age groups, with 57.8 percent saying they would back continued conservative control of the executive branch.
Voters between the ages of 18 and 30 also expressed a high level of support for a conservative to succeed Yoon, with 52.9 percent saying they did not want the presidency to change hands.
The desire for a change of administration was stronger among people in their 40s and 50s, of whom 66.8 percent and 57.1 percent said they would back a liberal running for the presidency.
According to the poll, 42.8 percent of respondents said they identified as PPP supporters, against 40.8 percent who said they were DP supporters.
The survey also showed that DP leader Lee Jae-myung is the overwhelming favorite among hypothetical liberal candidates if an early presidential election were to take place.
More than four out of five DP supporters said they would back Lee in a presidential election, while 26.8 percent of unaffiliated voters and 44.4 percent of moderates said the same.
If the Constitutional Court upholds Yoon’s impeachment, an election to choose his successor must be held within 60 days.
![Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo speaks during a meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Feb. 10. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/02/10/235c4135-93f5-45f4-8bb8-77403428fe05.jpg)
Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo speaks during a meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Feb. 10. [NEWS1]
While 45.2 percent of PPP supporters said they would support Kim if he ran in a presidential election, just 17.2 percent of unaffiliated voters and 19.9 percent of moderates said they would back him.
BY MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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