'The Power of Drama?' People Power Party Conflict Resolved... Yoon-Lee Approval Ratings Clash Again

Realmeter-OhmyNews Weekday Poll Shows Narrowed Support Gap
Yoon Seok-yeol 44% - Lee Jae-myung 37.5%
TBS-KSOI Weekend Poll Shows Widened Support Gap
Yoon Seok-yeol 41.2% - Lee Jae-myung 37.9%

People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol and Representative Lee Jun-seok Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Although Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, allowed Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, to close the gap due to internal party conflicts over the formation of the election campaign committee, the gap widened again as the conflict was resolved, according to public opinion polls.

According to a survey conducted by the polling agency Realmeter on behalf of OhmyNews from May 29 to June 3, targeting 3,054 voters nationwide aged 18 and over (with a sampling error of ±1.8 percentage points at a 95% confidence level), Candidate Yoon's support dropped by 2.3 percentage points from the previous week to 44%, while Candidate Lee's support rose by 0.6 percentage points to 37.5%. The difference narrowed from 9.4 percentage points to 6.5 percentage points, a 2.9 percentage point decrease. Sim Sang-jung, the Justice Party presidential candidate, received 3.2%, and Ahn Cheol-soo, the People Power Party presidential candidate, received 3.8%.

What draws attention is the change in public opinion trends over time. According to the daily public opinion trends released by Realmeter, Candidate Yoon was ahead by 11.9 percentage points on May 29, but the gap narrowed to 8.5 percentage points on May 30, 3.5 percentage points on June 1, 3.8 percentage points on June 2, and 4.4 percentage points on June 3. During the weekdays, the gap narrowed and then widened again.

A notable political event during this period was People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok canceling his official schedule and staying in the provinces, revealing conflicts with Candidate Yoon. When Lee's "off-site protest" began, support for Candidate Yoon among those in their 20s dropped by 6.3 percentage points, causing fluctuations. Conversely, Candidate Lee's support among those in their 20s rose by 2.1 percentage points, showing signs of change.

However, the situation changed after Candidate Yoon, Lee Jun-seok, and Kim Ki-hyun, the floor leader of the People Power Party, met in Ulsan on June 3 for a dinner meeting, resolved their conflicts, and decided to appoint former emergency committee chairman Kim Jong-in as the overall campaign committee chairman.

According to a public opinion poll conducted by the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI) on behalf of TBS from June 3 to 4, targeting 1,007 voters nationwide aged 18 and over (with a sampling error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level), Candidate Yoon's support fell by 0.6 percentage points from the previous week to 41.2%, while Candidate Lee's support dropped by 1.1 percentage points to 37.9%. Candidate Yoon, who led by 2.8 percentage points in the previous survey, led by 3.3 percentage points in this survey, showing a close race. Detailed survey results can be found on the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.