[AKyeong Poll] Democratic Party Primary Postponement Conflict... 65.1% Oppose Postponement

Presidential Candidate Primary Schedule
15.5% Responded to Postpone
High Opposition to Schedule Delay in All Regions Except Honam

Democratic Party Approval Rating 34.4%
People Power Party 26.7%

[Asia Economy Reporters Jeon Jinyoung, Park Juni] Regarding the 'primary delay theory' for next year's presidential election, which has divided opinions within the Democratic Party, public opinion shows that more citizens believe the candidate should be selected by September as originally planned.

65.1% responded that the presidential candidate should be selected by September as originally planned, while 15.5% said the primary schedule should be postponed to delay candidate selection. 19.4% were unsure. Support for keeping the primary schedule was high in all regions except Honam. Gangwon and Jeju (70.5%), Gyeonggi and Incheon (70.1%), Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam (65.6%) showed strong support. In contrast, only 50.9% in Gwangju and Jeolla chose to adhere to the primary schedule. Even among Democratic Party supporters, the majority opposed postponing the primary. Among voters who identified as Democratic Party supporters, 58.0% responded to select the candidate as originally planned, while only 26.1% supported postponement.

According to the Democratic Party's constitution and regulations, the party must select its presidential candidate at least 180 days before the presidential election. However, some pro-Moon Jae-in (Pro-Moon) faction lawmakers proposed postponing the primary to November, when herd immunity is expected to be achieved. Presidential hopeful Lee Kwang-jae and others also mentioned the need for postponement. However, Lee Jae-myung, the Gyeonggi Province governor and frontrunner, strongly opposes the delay. Party leader Song Young-gil stated, "The schedule cannot be changed," but added he would comply if the candidates reach an agreement.

Meanwhile, public support for the Democratic Party remains higher than for the People Power Party. The gap in approval ratings between the two parties widened to 7.7 percentage points compared to the previous survey conducted in the fourth week of April (5.2 percentage points). Party approval ratings showed the Democratic Party rising by 1.5 percentage points to 34.4%, while the People Power Party fell by 0.9 percentage points to 26.7%. Other party approval ratings were as follows: People’s Party 6.3%, Open Democratic Party 4.9%, Justice Party 4.3%. The proportion of undecided voters was 21.2%.

This survey was conducted on April 15-16 among voters aged 18 and older nationwide, with an overall response rate of 8.0%, totaling 1,019 respondents. The survey method was wireless ARS using 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 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, refer to the WinG Korea Consulting website or the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.