Ahead of the June 1 local elections, the last public opinion polls conducted by the heads of 17 metropolitan and regional governments across the country just before the ‘publication of public opinion poll results’ period showed that the people’s power had the upper hand in 9 places and the Democratic Party of Korea prevailed in 4 places.
Ipsos, Korea Research, and Korea Research, specializing in opinion polls, were commissioned by the three terrestrial broadcasting companies (KBS, MBC, and SBS) to survey 14,020 adults nationwide (800-1002 in each province) from the 23rd to the 25th. In a public opinion poll conducted, the power of the people was found to outperform the Democratic Party in 9 places including Seoul, Daegu, Gyeongbuk, Busan, Ulsan, Gyeongnam, Chungbuk, Chungnam, and Gangwon.
In Seoul, Candidate Oh Se-hoon gained 53.6 percent of the approval rating, far ahead of Democratic Party candidate Song Young-gil (31.2 percent). In Gangwon, the gap between the People’s Strength candidate Kim Jin-tae (44.9%) and the Democratic Party candidate Lee Kwang-jae (34.0%) widened to double digits.
In Chungcheongnam-do, which was initially selected as a competitive site, the people’s power was predicted to prevail. People’s Strength candidate Kim Tae-heum gained 43.8 percent of the vote, leading the Democratic Party’s candidate Yang Seung-jo (34.7 percent) by 9.1 percentage points. In Chungcheongbuk-do, it was also counted that People’s Strength candidate Kim Young-hwan (43.4%) had an edge over Democratic Party candidate Roh Young-min (30.7%).
In Daegu, Candidate Hong Jun-pyo (63.6%) led Democratic Party candidate Seo Jae-heon (11.7%) by 51.9 percentage points, and in Gyeongbuk, People’s Strength candidate Lee Cheol-woo (61.2%) and Democratic Party candidate Lim Mi-ae (14.7%) received approval ratings. It was found that the gap widened significantly.
In Busan, the approval rate of People’s Power candidate Park Hyung-joon (52.3%) was more than double that of Democratic Party candidate Byeon Seong-wan (25.9%). In Ulsan, People’s Strength candidate Kim Doo-gyeom received 43.4% and Democratic Party candidate Song Cheol-ho’s approval ratings at 27.1%.
The Democratic Party had the upper hand in four places: Gwangju, Jeonbuk, Jeonnam, and Jeju. In particular, it was found that the Democratic Party candidates running for three Honam districts received regarding 40% more approval than the People’s Strength candidates.
In Gwangju, Democratic Party candidate Kang Ki-jung (56.1%) gained regarding six times more support than People’s Strength candidate Joo Ki-hwan (9.2%). In Jeollanam-do, Democratic Party candidate Kim Young-rok received 57.2% and People’s Strength candidate Lee Jeong-hyeon 12.9%, while in Jeonbuk, Democratic Party candidate Kim Kwan-young received 60.2% and People’s Strength candidate Jo Bae-sook 13.4%.
In Jeju, too, Democratic Party candidate Oh Young-hoon (42.3%) outperformed People’s Strength candidate Heo Hyang-jin (31.6%) by 10.7 percentage points.
In four places, Incheon, Gyeonggi, Daejeon, and Sejong, the two parties battled within the margin of error.
In Incheon, candidate Yoo Jeong-bok received a 39.9% approval rating, slightly ahead of the incumbent Incheon mayor Park Nam-chun (35.8%).
In Sejong, People’s Strength candidate Choi Min-ho was competing with 40.4% and Democratic Party candidate Lee Chun-hee with 38.5%.
In a game where public interest is high, Democratic Party Candidate Dong-yeon Kim (39.1%) and People’s Strength Candidate Eun-hye Kim (37.7%) were shown to be fighting until the last minute, and in Daejeon, Candidate Heo Tae-jung (40%) of People’s Strength Candidate Lee Jang-woo ( 36.1%) was found to be slightly ahead.
The sampling error of this opinion poll is ±3.1-3.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. For more information, visit the website of the National Election Opinion Survey Deliberation Committee.
