[AKyung Poll] 94% of Busan Voters "Will Vote"... Job Creation Top Priority

Reflecting New Airport Voter Sentiment, Exceeding Half... Active Voters Show More Support for Opposition Party

[Asia Economy Reporters Chae-eun Koo, Bo-ryeong Geum, Jun-yi Park] A survey revealed that 94% of Busan voters intend to vote in the April 7 by-election. More than half responded that they would reflect the issue of 'Gadeokdo New Airport Promotion' in their voting decision. Additionally, Busan citizens identified 'job creation' as the most urgent policy issue.

In a survey conducted by Win-G Korea Consulting on behalf of Asia Economy from April 20 to 21 targeting 1,018 voters residing in Busan, 94% responded that they would vote in the April 7 by-election. Among them, 83% said they would 'definitely vote,' and 11% said they would 'vote if possible.' Those who said they would 'not vote' accounted for 4.4%, and 1.6% were 'unsure.'

By age group, the highest percentage of 'definitely will vote' responses was among those aged 70 and above (90%), while the lowest was among those aged 18-29 (75.2%). The 60s age group (86.5%) followed the 70s, then the 40s (82.9%), 30s (82.1%), and 50s (81.9%). By gender, 85.8% of men said they would 'definitely vote,' which was 5.4 percentage points higher than women (80.4%).

The 'active voting group' was found to include more opposition party supporters. The highest percentage of 'definitely will vote' responses was among People Power Party supporters (93.4%), followed by the People Party (92.8%), the Democratic Party (84.1%), and the Justice Party (81.7%). Those who do not support the president were more active in voting. Among respondents who said they would definitely vote, 86.6% did not support the president, which was 5.8 percentage points higher than the 80.8% who did support the president.

About half of respondents said they would reflect the Gadeokdo New Airport issue in their voting decision. When asked, 'To what extent will you consider the promotion of Gadeokdo New Airport in deciding your supported candidate?' 28.7% said they would 'actively consider' it. Another 23.7% said they would 'somewhat consider' it. Combining these two responses, 52.4% expressed their intention to link this issue to their vote. Those who said they would 'not consider it' accounted for 42.9% (25.6% would 'not consider much' and 17.3% would 'not consider at all'), and 4.7% were 'unsure.'

When asked about the most urgent policy issue in the Busan area, 'job creation' received the highest response at 28.3%, followed by real estate market stabilization (18.0%), Gadeokdo New Airport promotion (17.9%), and infectious disease response including COVID-19 (11.9%). Other demands included support measures for self-employed and small business owners (10.5%), resolving the gap between East and West Busan (4.9%), establishing the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam metropolitan railroad network (3.7%), and promoting the construction of the Korea-Japan undersea tunnel (1.8%).

This survey was conducted from April 20 to 21 targeting voters aged 18 and over residing in Busan Metropolitan City, with an overall response rate of 11.8%, totaling 1,018 respondents. The survey method was 100% wireless ARS using virtual mobile phone numbers. The sample was extracted with weighting by gender, age, and region based on the resident registration population as of the end of January 2021 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, please refer to the Win-G Korea Consulting website or the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.