[AKYUNG Poll] Park Hyung-jun 45.8% vs Kim Young-chun 30.3%, Lee Eon-ju 39.4% vs Kim Young-chun 37.4%

Democratic Party and People Power Party Within Margin of Error in Party Approval Ratings

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] According to a public opinion survey of Busan citizens, the Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party are receiving similar levels of party support within the margin of error.

However, in a hypothetical one-on-one race between the ruling party's leading candidate, Kim Young-choon, Secretary General of the National Assembly, and opposition candidates, Professor Park Hyung-joon of Dong-A University (former Secretary General of the National Assembly) led by more than 15 percentage points. Former lawmaker Lee Eon-ju showed similar support rates within the margin of error.

Asia Economy commissioned Win-G Korea Consulting to conduct a survey from the 12th to 13th targeting 1,020 residents of Busan aged 18 and over (100% mobile phone virtual numbers, automated response). The results showed the People Power Party's support rate at 32.0%, and the Democratic Party at 30.2%. This is a tight result within the sampling error (±3.1 percentage points). Following were the People Party at 8.1%, Open Democratic Party at 5.9%, and Justice Party at 2.9%, with the proportion of undecided voters at 17.3%.

Regarding President Moon Jae-in, 42.7% responded that they "politically support" him, while 53.7% said they "do not support" him. Considering the gap in party support rates, President Moon's approval rating was lower than that of the Democratic Party.

As for the most suitable Democratic Party candidate for Busan mayor, Secretary General Kim Young-choon received the highest response at 18.7%. Former Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Hae-young ranked second with 10.0%, but he announced on the 14th that he would not run. Among the opposition, Professor Park Hyung-joon received 22.4%, former People Power Party lawmaker Lee Eon-ju 15.7%, and People Power Party lawmaker Seo Byung-soo 12.2%.

When asked about a hypothetical one-on-one race based on these results, Secretary General Kim received 30.3%, and Professor Park 45.8%. Professor Park led by 15.5 percentage points, with a relatively higher consolidation of People Power Party supporters, and among undecided voters, Park received 40.7%, overwhelming Kim's 12.9%.

On the other hand, in a hypothetical race between Secretary General Kim and former lawmaker Lee, the results were close within the margin of error at 37.4% and 39.4%, respectively. Former lawmaker Lee had weaker consolidation among People Power Party supporters compared to Professor Park.

Regarding the major local issue of promoting the new airport on Gadeokdo Island, 60.6% were in favor and 28.2% opposed. Even among People Power Party supporters, support (46.5%) was higher than opposition (42.1%). When asked how much the Gadeokdo new airport would help the future development of the Busan area, 45.9% said "very helpful," and 22.2% said "somewhat helpful," with 68.1% viewing it positively.

This survey was conducted from the 12th to 13th targeting voters aged 18 and over residing in Busan Metropolitan City, with an overall response rate of 7.3%, totaling 1,020 respondents. The survey method was wireless ARS with 100% mobile phone virtual numbers. The sample was extracted using weighted values by gender, age, and region based on the resident registration population as of the end of November 2020 from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (cell weighting). The sampling error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For detailed survey information, refer to the Win-G Korea Consulting website or the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.