Lee’s approval ratings of 36.4%, Yoon at 43.3% and Ahn at 9.9%

With the March 9 South Korean presidential election just around the corner, it was reported on Sunday that the ruling Minjoo Party of Korea’s Lee Jae-myung and the main opposition People Power Party’s Yoon Seok-youl showed approval ratings of 36.4 percent and 43.3 percent, respectively, in a public opinion survey of 1,006 men and women held over Friday and Saturday by Research & Research commissioned by The Dong-A Ilbo. The gap between the two main competitors is 6.9 percent, which is out of the margin of error. The minor progressive Justice Party’s Sim Sang-jung and the minor opposition People’s Party’s Ahn Cheol-soo earned 2.7 percent and 9.9 percent, respectively.

Compared to the 2nd public survey carried out over Feb. 4 and 5, Yoon gained 1.6 percent points while Lee lost 0.6 percent points. Sim went up by 0.2 percent points but Ahn decreased by 0.2 percent points.

The recent survey shows that 60.2 percent of respondents who voted for Minjoo’s then candidate Moon Jae-in in the 2017 presidential election are currently supportive of Lee. Out of voters who supported PPP’s Hong Joon-pyo in the previous election, 91.1 percent are favorable to Yoon. Meanwhile, 56.3 percent of those who previously voted for Ahn now support Yoon, 20.5 percent still stand by Ahn and 18.5 percent are supportive of Lee according to the survey.

Around 49.6 percent of respondents in the survey prefer to see an opposition party’s candidate win for the sake of transition of power while 34.9 percent hope the ruling party’s candidate to be elected. According to the survey, respondents in their 20s (57.5 percent) and 60s or above (60.7 percent) wish to achieve shift of power most desperately among all age groups while those in their 40s (49.8 percent) hope the ruling party to stay in power.

"

With the March 9 South Korean presidential election just around the corner, it was reported on Sunday that the ruling Minjoo Party of Korea’s Lee Jae-myung and the main opposition People Power Party’s Yoon Seok-youl showed approval ratings of 36.4 percent and 43.3 percent, respectively, in a public opinion survey of 1,006 men and women held over Friday and Saturday by Research & Research commissioned by The Dong-A Ilbo. The gap between the two main competitors is 6.9 percent, which is out of the margin of error. The minor progressive Justice Party’s Sim Sang-jung and the minor opposition People’s Party’s Ahn Cheol-soo earned 2.7 percent and 9.9 percent, respectively.

Compared to the 2nd public survey carried out over Feb. 4 and 5, Yoon gained 1.6 percent points while Lee lost 0.6 percent points. Sim went up by 0.2 percent points but Ahn decreased by 0.2 percent points.

The recent survey shows that 60.2 percent of respondents who voted for Minjoo’s then candidate Moon Jae-in in the 2017 presidential election are currently supportive of Lee. Out of voters who supported PPP’s Hong Joon-pyo in the previous election, 91.1 percent are favorable to Yoon. Meanwhile, 56.3 percent of those who previously voted for Ahn now support Yoon, 20.5 percent still stand by Ahn and 18.5 percent are supportive of Lee according to the survey.

Around 49.6 percent of respondents in the survey prefer to see an opposition party’s candidate win for the sake of transition of power while 34.9 percent hope the ruling party’s candidate to be elected. According to the survey, respondents in their 20s (57.5 percent) and 60s or above (60.7 percent) wish to achieve shift of power most desperately among all age groups while those in their 40s (49.8 percent) hope the ruling party to stay in power.


Sang-Jun Han alwaysj@donga.com