Lee Jae-myung on Poll Showing a 'Close Race': "It Could Be a Kind of Strategy to Make Us Give Up the Election"

"ARS Response Rate Not High, On-Site Reactions Differ from Polls"
Regarding Lack of Local Ties, "Competent and Major Workers Help Regional and National Development More Than Connections"

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea's candidate for the National Assembly in Incheon Gyeyang-eul and the general election campaign committee chairman, is holding a press conference announcing the "Gyeyang Technovalley Master Plan" at the election campaign office in Gyeyang-gu, Incheon on the 24th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] Regarding some poll results showing Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party candidate running in Incheon Gyeyang-eul in the June 1 by-election for the National Assembly, neck-and-neck with his opponent, he said, "The on-site reactions are very different from the poll results," adding, "ARS poll results in local elections often do not match the actual final results."

In an interview on June 24 with KBS Radio's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs,' Candidate Lee said, "I have been greeting commuters since 6:30 a.m., and the on-site reactions are very different from the ARS poll results," and added, "Saying that we are losing in the ARS poll might be a kind of tactic to make supporters give up on the election. We should not fall for that."

He explained, "The response rate is only about 1 to 2%, so if you call 100 people, only 2 answer, and the other 98 either do not pick up or hang up," adding, "The accuracy is very low, and only active people respond." He further stated, "In the U.S., polls with a response rate below 10 to 15% are often abused, so they are not released," and elaborated, "If the questions include content that offends one side, people hang up, making distortion easy."

Regarding criticism that he lacks justification for running in Gyeyang-eul, where he has no local ties, he said, "That is a kind of propaganda for their own advantage," and responded, "A member of the National Assembly is someone who governs the country. It is better to have a capable and influential person who can help regional and national development than someone with local ties but incompetent and with little influence."

Candidate Lee also said, "Local ties can be an advantage to some extent, but I am more welcomed in terms of capability and influence that far surpass that," and countered, "Arguing about local ties is childish. Just living in the neighborhood for a long time does not mean you can handle issues like the development of Gyeyang Techno Valley, the second Pangyo project, or the natural parkification of Gyeyang Mountain."

Having visited Bongha Village in Gimhae, Gyeongnam, on the 13th anniversary of the late former President Roh Moo-hyun the day before, Candidate Lee also revealed his conversation with former President Moon Jae-in. He said, "He expressed appreciation for my efforts and, although he did not directly mention the election, he showed some concern and worry." He added, "I am not usually fond of taking photos, but he suggested taking one just in case it might be useful, so we took a photo. From that, it seems he indirectly expressed his support. It was a cautious occasion, but I fully understood his feelings."

Meanwhile, on the same day, a poll result showing Candidate Lee in a close race within the margin of error against Yoon Hyung-sun, the People Power Party candidate, was released. According to a survey conducted by Global Research on behalf of JTBC from June 22 to 23, among 500 residents aged 18 or older in Incheon Gyeyang-eul, Candidate Lee received 44.8% support, and Candidate Yoon received 42.2%. Those who had no preferred candidate or did not know accounted for 13.1%.

This survey was conducted via 100% wireless telephone interviews using a random extraction from the subscriber lists of the three major telecom companies. The sampling error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, and the response rate was 14%. For more details, refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.