[AK Poll] 86.8% of People Power Party Supporters Say "Yoon's Resignation Will Affect the Mayoral Election"

Swing Voters Also Respond "Influenced" at 60.3%
People Power Party More Alert to Yoon's Outreach

[Asia Economy Reporters Hyunju Lee and Jinyoung Jeon] More than half of Seoul citizens responded that former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol’s sudden resignation (March 4) was a ‘well-done act,’ which can be seen as reflecting a kind of ‘expectation for political participation’ intertwined with his soaring presidential election approval ratings. Former Prosecutor General Yoon resigned about four months before the end of his term in protest against the ruling party’s push for the establishment of the Serious Crime Investigation Office (Jungsucheong). Since then, he has intermittently delivered political messages and is gearing up for a full-fledged political career.

Seoul citizens believed that this political variable would also have some influence on the Seoul mayoral by-election. This could be in terms of which candidate he would declare support for, or the possibility that his image as being ‘persecuted’ by the current administration might highlight and strengthen the ‘judgment against the regime’ argument.

According to a public opinion poll conducted by Asia Economy through Win-Gi Korea Consulting from March 6 to 7 targeting 1,002 voters residing in Seoul, 53.7% of Seoul citizens said that former Prosecutor General Yoon’s mid-term resignation was ‘a well-done act.’ On the other hand, 29.8% responded that it was ‘a wrong act,’ and 16.5% said ‘don’t know.’ Among the supporters of the People Power Party, 82.2% viewed the mid-term resignation as a well-done act. Even among the non-affiliated group who answered ‘no party support,’ 46.4% viewed the resignation positively, higher than those who thought it was wrong (20.8%) or were unsure (32.8%). Conversely, only 32.1% of the Democratic Party supporters said it was a well-done act.

The ruling party downplays former Prosecutor General Yoon’s high approval ratings as a so-called ‘convention effect,’ but the majority believed that Yoon’s resignation would have some impact on the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election.

In the same survey, when asked ‘How much do you think the conflict between former Prosecutor General Yoon’s resignation and the push for the Serious Crime Investigation Office will affect the upcoming Seoul mayoral by-election?’ 57.5% answered ‘it will have an impact.’ Among them, 26.5% said ‘it will have a very strong impact,’ and 31.0% said ‘it will have some impact.’ Conversely, 36.2% said ‘it will not have an impact.’ Specifically, 25.1% said ‘not much impact,’ and 11.2% said ‘no impact at all.’

By age group, opinions were split evenly among those in their 30s to 50s, but voters in their 20s and those aged 60 and above showed a dominant majority of about 70% who believed there would be an impact. Notably, 86.8% of People Power Party supporters thought Yoon’s resignation would affect this election. Among the non-affiliated group, similar to the People Power Party supporters, 60.3% believed there would be an impact, which was higher than those who thought there would be no impact (23.1%) or were unsure (16.6%). Only 28.9% of Democratic Party supporters said they thought there would be an impact.

Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol [Image source=Yonhap News]

As public interest in the aftermath of former Prosecutor General Yoon’s resignation and his future whereabouts grows, the People Power Party, which is sending ‘love calls’ to him, is expected to be even more attentive to his moves. Whether they can recruit former Prosecutor General Yoon before the election could consolidate their support base or attract moderate voters.

This survey was conducted from March 6 to 7 targeting 1,002 men and women aged 18 or older residing in Seoul, using 100% mobile phone virtual number ARS method. The sample was based on the resident registration population statistics from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety as of the end of January, with weighting applied by gender, age, and region (cell weighting). The response rate was 8.3%, and the sampling error was ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For detailed survey information, please refer to the Win-Gi Korea Consulting website or the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.