Unfavorable Presidential Election: 50% Say "Absolutely Won't Vote" for Lee Jae-myung, 42% for Yoon Seok-youl

Sim Sang-jung and Ahn Cheol-soo Each at 2%

On the 3rd, at the KBS studio in Seoul where the presidential candidate debate jointly hosted by the three terrestrial broadcasters was held, presidential candidates Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party, Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party of Korea, Yoon Seok-youl of the People Power Party, and Ahn Cheol-soo of the People Party (from left) are taking a commemorative photo before the debate. 2022.2.3 Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers' Association [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] In the upcoming presidential election, half of the respondents named Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea's presidential candidate, as the "candidate they absolutely do not want to vote for." Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, followed with an 8 percentage point difference.

In a survey conducted by Research View on behalf of UPI News from the 1st to the 3rd of this month targeting 1,000 people nationwide aged 18 and over, Lee recorded 50%. Yoon followed with 42%, while Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party and Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party each had figures in the 2% range.

Compared to the same survey in the first week of January, Lee's figure rose by 5 percentage points, while Yoon's dropped by 5 percentage points, reversing their rankings.

Especially, public sentiment in Honam fluctuated significantly. The percentage of respondents in the Honam region who said they would not vote for Lee surged from 19% to 35%, whereas Yoon's figure dropped by 21 percentage points from 75% to 54%.

Among conservatives, 74% identified Lee as the candidate they would not vote for, while 69% of progressives named Yoon. Among moderates, 46% opposed Lee, and 40% opposed Yoon, showing a slightly higher aversion toward Lee.

This survey was conducted via ARS automated response using random digit dialing (RDD), with 85% mobile and 15% landline calls. For more details, please refer to the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.