Park Jiwon: "If It Becomes a Battle of Camps, It's a 50 to 49 Game... Unification Can Only Center on Lee Junseok"

"Tendency for Kim Moonsoo and Lee Junseok Supporters to Unite"

Park Jiwon, co-chair of the Democratic Party of Korea's election campaign committee, commented on the narrowing gap in approval ratings between Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jaemyung and People Power Party candidate Kim Moonsoo, stating, "If this election turns into a battle of ideological camps, it could become a 50 to 49 game."

Park Jiwon, member of the Democratic Party of Korea. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

On May 23, during an appearance on YTN Radio's 'News Fighting,' Park explained that the Democratic Party is wary of 'presidential election optimism.' He said, "Once the candidates are finalized, the core supporters will inevitably unite. We are seeing a tendency for the supporters of Kim Moonsoo and Lee Junseok, the Reform New Party candidate, to come together."

He continued, "In the presidential election three years ago, the contest between Yoon Sukyeol and Lee Jaemyung was decided by a margin of just 0.73 percentage points," adding, "When it comes to ideological camps, the 'shy conservatives' will inevitably unite."

Regarding the possibility of a unified candidacy between Kim Moonsoo and Lee Junseok, Park predicted that only a unification centered on Lee Junseok would be possible. He said, "Lee Junseok is a politician who looks to the future. In this presidential election, he needs to leave a good message and impression on the public, and his message must be better than that of old-guard politicians."

Additionally, Park pointed out, "Polls consistently show 55% in favor of a change of government and 35% in favor of maintaining the current government. This is because this election is essentially about whether to continue or end the ongoing internal strife." He added, "As the election nears its end, I believe voters will evaluate the rash actions of former president Yoon Sukyeol and the old-style politics of candidate Kim Moonsoo."

Meanwhile, according to a National Barometer Survey (NBS) conducted by Embrain Public, KSTAT Research, Korea Research, and Hankook Research from May 19 to 21, targeting 1,002 adults aged 18 and over nationwide, 55% responded that there should be a change of government in the next presidential election, while 34% said the current government should be re-elected.

The NBS survey was conducted through telephone interviews using 100% virtual mobile numbers. The margin of error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, and the response rate was 26.7%. For more details, refer to the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.