I am an editorial writer at The Korea Times, focusing on foreign policy, North Korea and domestic politics. My key areas of interest include North Korea, foreign interference in elections, election integrity, cyberattacks and human rights. Prior to joining the Editorial Board, I served as both Politics Desk editor and Culture Desk editor. During my career, I have reported on the Presidential Office under the Lee Myung-bak administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Assembly.
N. Korea effect outweighs Roh effect: Poll
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff reporter
Poll results made public Tuesday showed that the gap between incumbents running in the June 2 local elections in three election battlegrounds and their rivals has widened over the past two weeks.
The Hankook Ilbo newspaper survey of Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province showed those who agreed with a multinational investigation team, which concluded North Korea torpedoed the South Korean frigate Cheonan in March, far outnumbered those who were suspicious of the findings.
These two factors - the widening gap between the frontrunners and their rivals, and people's sweeping support for the findings of the cause of the ship sinking - indicate that the "North Korea effect" has been stronger than the late "Roh Moo-hyun effect" in the campaigns.
Roh, who was very popular among liberals, committed suicide a year ago during an investigation into a bribery scandal allegedly involving his family.
According to the poll, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who is running on the ruling Grand National Party ticket, has a big 16.7 percentage-point lead over former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook.
In a Hankook Ilbo survey conducted two weeks ago, the gap between Oh and Han, who is running on the main opposition Democratic Party's ticket, was 13.5 percentage points.
In the Incheon race, the gap between incumbent Mayor Ahn Sang-soo and Song Young-ghil, who is running on the DP ticket, was 10 percentage points, up from 5.2 percentage points in the prior survey.
Gyeonggi Governor Kim Moon-soo scored support of 45.4 percent, whereas former Health and Welfare Minister Rhyu Si-min won 34.9 percent.
Undecided voters in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province marked 17.6, 21.9 and 14.9 percent, respectively.
About 70 percent of respondents said they were convinced of the findings of the multinational investigation team over the sinking of the 1,200-ton warship near the maritime border in the West Sea on March 26.
The survey also found that the proportion of undecided voters was very high in elections to select education superintendents. About 70 percent of those polled in Seoul said they either have no preferred candidate or don't know who to vote for.
In Incheon, the figure stood at 61.5 percent, while the rate in Gyeonggi Province was 59.5 percent.