21st General Election, 'Government Accountability' 37% vs 'Opposition Accountability' 49% [Gallup]

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] With about three months remaining until the 21st general election, a public opinion poll revealed that the 'government judgment theory (government check theory)' is more dominant than the 'opposition party judgment theory (government support theory)'.

According to a survey conducted by Gallup Korea from the 7th to the 9th among 1,000 adults nationwide, 49% of respondents said "many ruling party candidates should be elected to support the current government," while 37% said "many opposition party candidates should be elected to check the current government," the agency announced on the 10th. Fourteen percent withheld their opinion.

This result is similar to the three surveys conducted from April to June last year, where government support theory led government check theory by about 10 percentage points. In a survey conducted in September 2015, about half a year before the 20th National Assembly election (during the Park Geun-hye administration), 36% agreed with government support theory and 42% with government check theory, showing a close contest.

By age group, those in their 40s and younger favored "ruling party victory (government support theory)," those aged 60 and above favored "opposition party victory (government check theory)," and opinions were divided among those in their 50s. Among conservatives, 70% expected an opposition party victory, while 80% of progressives anticipated a ruling party victory. Even among centrists, the ruling party victory (52%) was favored over the opposition party victory (37%). Among the politically unaffiliated, 29% expected a ruling party victory, 40% an opposition party victory, and 31% withheld their opinion.

Meanwhile, in the public opinion poll on President Moon Jae-in's job performance, 47% gave a positive evaluation, while 43% gave a negative evaluation. The positive rating rose by 3 percentage points compared to the third week of December last year, three weeks ago, while the negative rating fell by 3 percentage points.

Regarding party support, the Democratic Party of Korea stood at 40%, the Liberty Korea Party at 20%, the Justice Party at 6%, and both the Bareunmirae Party and the New Conservative Party at 3% each.

This survey contacted 7,184 men and women aged 19 and older nationwide, with a final 1,000 respondents completing the survey, recording a 14% response rate. The sampling error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For more details, refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.