[AKYUNG Poll] Half of the People Say "Yoon Seok-yeol Will Not Run for President"

57% of Yeo's Supporters Say "Will Not Run"
High Possibility in TK and Chungcheong Regions

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Although Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's approval rating is soaring, about half of the public believes he will not run in the presidential election.

In this survey, when asked "Do you think Prosecutor General Yoon will run in the next presidential election?", 45.9% responded that they believe he will not run, 33.9% said they think he will run, and 20.2% answered "don't know."

Among supporters of the Democratic Party (57.3%), the People’s Party (45.5%), and the Open Democratic Party (68.4%), the majority responded that he would not run. However, among supporters of the People Power Party (52.3%) and the Justice Party (43.8%), the majority believed he would run. Among the non-affiliated group, 45.8% believed he would not run.

By age group, all except those in their 30s believed Prosecutor General Yoon would not run. However, among those in their 30s, the opinion that he would run (47.9%) was higher than the opinion that he would not run (40.3%).

By region, Daegu·Gyeongbuk (48.2%) and Daejeon·Sejong·Chungcheong (42.6%) showed higher expectations for Yoon’s candidacy. It is analyzed that Yoon has emerged as an alternative for the conservative opposition, which is suffering from a shortage of candidates, and that the Chungcheong region’s anticipation is also gaining strength due to the fact that his father is from Gongju, Chungnam. On the other hand, in Seoul, Incheon·Gyeonggi, Busan·Ulsan·Gyeongnam, Gwangju·Jeolla, and Gangwon·Jeju, the majority responded that he would not run. In particular, in Gwangju·Jeolla, the response that he would not run was the highest at 55.0%, while the response that he would run was the lowest at 19.9% compared to other regions.

This survey was conducted nationwide among voters aged 18 and older on the 16th and 17th of last month, with an overall response rate of 6.5%, totaling 1,009 respondents. The survey method was 100% mobile phone virtual number via wireless ARS. The sample was extracted with weighted values (cell weighting) by gender, age, and region based on the resident registration population as of the end of December 2020 from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. The sampling error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For detailed survey information, refer to the Winzi Korea Consulting website or the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.