Lee Nak-yeon: "A Challenging Fight Through Bipartisan Cooperation... Differences Between Polls and On-Site Public Sentiment"

"Young Generation Shows Tendency to Move Away from Democratic Party Absolutism"

Lee Nak-yeon, co-chair of the New Future Party, who is running in Gwangju Gwangsan-eul, appealed for support, saying, "Giving the casting vote to third forces and sound forces will be the way to serve the country."

On the 2nd, Lee appeared on BBS Radio's 'Jeon Young-shin's Morning Journal' and commented on the recent struggles of third-zone candidates in approval ratings, diagnosing, "As the two major parties fight for survival, the people are divided into two sides and fighting, and the breathing space for the sound forces caught in the middle is becoming increasingly narrow, which is a very unfortunate situation."

He continued, "If this continues, the 22nd National Assembly will be predictable," adding, "It will turn into a battleground of prosecution versus criminals, and shield versus shield, even more severe than the past two years. Then where should the Republic of Korea go? Choosing only one of the two parties despite clearly seeing this is to fall into unhappiness oneself."

Lee Nak-yeon, co-representative of Saeroun Mirae, is greeting commuters near Sanwol IC in Suwan-dong, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, on the morning of the 28th, the first day of official election campaigning for the April 10 general election. Photo by Saeroun Mirae, Yonhap News Agency

After much deliberation, Lee decided to run in Gwangju Gwangsan-eul, but recent polls show him trailing Min Hyung-bae, the Democratic Party candidate, by about 50 percentage points. In a survey conducted by Realmeter on March 28-29 among 506 men and women aged 18 and over residing in Gwangju Gwangsan-eul, commissioned by Gwangju Ilbo, Min's support was 65.4%, while Lee's was 15.5%.

Lee said, "Gwangju is the most prominent stronghold of the Democratic Party nationwide, and with the Yoon Seok-yeol administration running wild, it is also helping the Democratic Party," adding, "The current situation is rolling along as a collaboration between the ruling and opposition parties, making it a very tough fight for us. Nevertheless, I am telling the citizens of Gwangju that if this continues, the nation will be in danger and national leaders should not be like this, and I believe many citizens are accepting my words."

He also pointed out that there is a difference between poll results and on-site public sentiment. Lee stated, "Polls should not be ignored," but added, "When I actually meet people on the streets, it varies greatly by age group. Especially among the younger generation, there is a clear tendency to make judgments individually rather than collectively, showing a clear departure from Democratic Party absolutism."

With three days left until the April 10 general election early voting and eight days until the main vote, regarding the possibility of a rebound in third-zone support, he said, "I feel that changes are gradually happening at the grassroots level," and "I will do my best until the very last moment."

Additionally, Lee revealed that former President Moon Jae-in had called him regarding the political situation. He said, "Around the time when the Yoon Seok-yeol government was making reckless mistakes, I happened to have a chance to talk on the phone, and he comforted me," adding, "Former President Moon said, 'The tower you built with difficulty is collapsing, Prime Minister, how upset you must be.' If anyone should be more upset, it would be the president, but I vividly remember his words of consolation."

Meanwhile, the poll was conducted using a structured questionnaire via wired and wireless ARS (90% wireless, 10% wired), with a response rate of 6.6%. The sample was extracted with weighting by gender, age, and region based on the resident registration population statistics from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety as of the end of February (rim weighting). The sampling error is ±4.4 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For more details, refer to the website of the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission.