Voters lean toward opposition

Main opposition People Power Party interim leader Kim Chong-in, center, and other PPP leaders attend a meeting on fielding candidates for the April 7 by-elections at the National Assembly on Yeouido in Seoul, Dec. 30. Yonhap

By Yi Whan-woo

Many voters support the opposition bloc for the April 7 by-elections, showing their discontent with the current liberal government, multiple polls conducted last week showed.

People preferring the conservative opposition to win the 2022 presidential election also outnumbered those believing another president from the liberal side should be elected to continue the Moon Jae-in administration's political and social reform measures.

The results comes as President Moon Jae-in's job approval rating has continued to drop amid the outcry over slow vaccine procurement, soaring real estate prices and other negative issues that analysts described as “affecting the daily lives of ordinary citizens.”

In the poll of 1,000 adults conducted by Kstat Research from Dec. 27 to 29, 49.5 percent wanted candidates from the opposition bloc to win the April 7 by-elections for Seoul and Busan, which are considered a major litmus test for the 2022 presidential election, while 36.7 percent supported candidates from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).

In a separate survey taken by Research and Research on the same period, 46.2 percent of 800 Seoul citizens who are eligible to vote answered they are leaned toward the opposition in the Seoul mayoral by-election.

They said it will be necessary to “keep the government and the ruling party in check and to bring them to justice.”

Another 31.3 percent said the DPK should win in support of Moon's stable state management, while the remaining 22.5 percent answered they are undecided.

A survey of 1,012 adults taken by Hyundai Research Institute from Dec. 28 to 30 showed 47.6 percent picked the opposition and the other 39.6 percent for the ruling party when asked which side is likely to win in the Seoul mayoral by-elections.

For the Busan mayoral by-elections, the support rate for the opposition hiked to 68.2 percent compared to the ruling party's 16 percent.

In a Realmeter poll of 1,000 adults from Dec. 27 to 28, 51.3 percent of the respondents supported an opposition candidate for the 2022 presidential election to change the government from liberal to conservative. Another 38.8 percent said a ruling party candidate should be elected and the remaining 9.9 percent answered they are not sure.

The tendency was similar at a different survey of 1,010 adults conducted by Kantar Korea from Dec. 27 to 30, where the opposition support rate for the presidential election outnumbered that of the ruling bloc, 49.9 percent to 34.8 percent.

The polls indicate public discontent with the Moon administration “has risen to the surface after being accumulated for years,” according to Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University.

“There were people who have been displeased with the Moon government for failing to cope with the unemployment rate, soaring real estate prices and other economic issues. They, however, kept mum as the President enjoyed a solid approval rating until recently when the government was lambasted for late procurement of vaccines.”

Shin explained vaccine procurement-issue has become a “trigger” for the voters to “unleash their disappointment and anger” ahead of the by-elections.

The professor viewed the year-long tussle between Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl left a negative impression to the public that the government is less concerned about their daily lives than political issues.

“All these will add to a downward trend of the government and the ruling party as witnessed in the latest polls,” he added.