Lee Jun-seok Butterfly Effect... Park Yong-jin Ranks 3rd in Ruling Party Presidential Candidate Suitability

Park Yong-jin, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea who declared his candidacy for the presidential election, is holding a policy-related press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office on the 10th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] On the 13th, another public opinion poll showed that Park Yong-jin, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, ranked third in suitability as a presidential candidate for the ruling party, following Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung and former party leader Lee Nak-yeon.

There is an analysis that the 'generation change wind' brought by Lee Jun-seok, the new leader of the People Power Party in his 30s, may also be influencing the power dynamics among the ruling party's presidential candidates.

Park is the only member of the 97 generation (born in the 1970s, university class of the 1990s) among the Democratic Party's presidential hopefuls.

According to a survey conducted by PNR Research on behalf of Money Today and the Future Korea Institute, targeting 1,009 adults nationwide on the 12th, Park recorded 6.9% suitability among the ruling party's presidential candidates, following Governor Lee (31.7%) and former leader Lee (13.1%).

Next were former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun (5.9%), former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae (4.9%), Representative Kim Du-kwan and Chungnam Province Governor Yang Seung-jo (1.5%), and Representative Lee Kwang-jae (1.4%).

21.2% responded that there was "no suitable candidate within the ruling party."

In the suitability survey including both ruling and opposition parties, former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, a leading opposition presidential candidate, maintained first place with 39.1%. The gap with Governor Lee, who ranked second with 26.2%, was 12.9 percentage points, outside the margin of error.

Third place was former leader Lee (12.3%), followed by independent Representative Hong Joon-pyo (5.9%), People’s Party leader Ahn Cheol-soo (2.7%), former Prime Minister Chung (2.6%), and Justice Party Representative Shim Sang-jung (1.2%).

The margin of error for this survey is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For more details, refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.