Public Opinion Split on Lee Jae-myung Retaining Party Leader Position
President Yoon's Approval Rating Recovers to 30% Range...Up 4.1%p to 32.6%
Public opinion is sharply divided regarding Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, ahead of his pretrial detention hearing. From the approval of the arrest consent motion to whether he should retain his party leadership position, opinions are split evenly.
According to a public opinion poll released on the 26th by Media Tomato (conducted by wireless ARS method from the 23rd to 24th nationwide targeting 1,019 adults aged 18 and over, commissioned by News Tomato), 44.6% of respondents said the passage of the arrest consent motion for Lee in the National Assembly plenary session was a "good decision," while 45.1% said it was a "bad decision."
Among Democratic Party supporters, 83.2% responded that it was a "bad decision," whereas 92.1% of People Power Party supporters said it was a "good decision."
The arrest consent motion for Lee, which passed the plenary session on the 21st, saw 295 out of 298 members present vote: 149 in favor, 136 against, 4 invalid votes, and 6 abstentions. Considering the distribution of seats between ruling and opposition parties, it is interpreted that at least about 29 members of the Democratic Party voted in favor.
Regarding whether Lee should retain his position as party leader, 48.2% said he should "retain," while 44.2% said he should "resign." In this survey as well, 85.6% of Democratic Party supporters said he should "retain" his leadership, whereas 87.1% of People Power Party supporters said he should "resign." Among those who identified as centrists politically, 43.7% said he should retain, and 43.5% said he should resign.
However, this question was asked only about retaining the party leadership position without any premise regarding Lee’s possible detention.
President Yoon Suk-yeol’s approval rating for his administration recovered to the 30% range. His approval rating rose 4.1 percentage points from last week to 32.6%. The disapproval rating dropped 4.6 percentage points to 62.7% compared to the previous survey.
In terms of party support, the Democratic Party was at 45.9%, and the People Power Party at 32.6%. Compared to last week’s survey, the Democratic Party’s support fell by 0.2 percentage points, while the People Power Party’s support rose by 0.6 percentage points.
For detailed survey methodology and results, please refer to the website of the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
