National Election Commission: "People Power Party Candidate Unification Poll Cannot Be Published"

Judged as Election-Related, Not for Party Primary Purposes

On May 9, the National Election Commission notified the People Power Party that it is prohibited from publishing the results of a public opinion poll regarding the unification of presidential candidates Kim Moonsoo and Prime Minister Han Ducksoo.

A National Election Commission official told Asia Economy in a phone call on this day, "We have notified the People Power Party not to publish the results of the opinion poll in accordance with Article 108, Paragraph 12 of the Public Official Election Act."

Kim Moonsoo, the People Power Party presidential candidate, and Han Ducksoo, an independent presidential preliminary candidate, are embracing after a meeting regarding candidate unification at the Riverside Library in the National Assembly on May 8, 2025. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

Article 108, Paragraph 12 of the Public Official Election Act stipulates that the results of opinion polls conducted by a political party or candidate cannot be published or reported until the end of voting for the relevant election.

The National Election Commission explained that since the poll was not for an internal party primary but rather measured preferences between the People Power Party candidate and an independent preliminary candidate, it was determined to be directly related to the presidential election.

The People Power Party conducted a public opinion poll among the general public for candidate unification from 5 p.m. on May 8 to 4 p.m. on this day. The party planned to announce candidate preferences by combining 50% of the general public opinion poll results and 50% of party member votes.