Lee Jae-myung's Unstoppable 'Sprint'... Leading Presidential Candidates and 1st Place in Provincial Administration Performance for 6 Consecutive Months

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, ranked first in the nationwide evaluation of the performance of 17 metropolitan and provincial governors, following his lead in the next presidential preference survey. With this, Governor Lee has maintained the top position for six consecutive months since ranking first in the job performance evaluation of provincial governors in June.

Realmeter announced on the 8th that, based on an evaluation of the November job performance of provincial governors conducted from the 23rd to the 30th of last month among 7,500 people aged 18 and over nationwide (500 per province) using a random phone call automated response method for both landline and mobile phones, Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, maintained the lead with a positive rating (approval rating) of 66.6%. Since first ranking in June, Governor Lee has held the top spot for six months.

Following Governor Lee, Kim Young-rok of Jeollanam-do (63.1%) and Lee Cheol-woo of Gyeongsangbuk-do (54.0%) ranked second and third, respectively. Additionally, Won Hee-ryong of Jeju Province (52.7%), Song Ha-jin of Jeollabuk-do (50.4%), and Choi Moon-soon of Gangwon Province (49.9%) ranked fourth to sixth, respectively. Song Cheol-ho, Mayor of Ulsan (30.4%), Park Nam-chun, Mayor of Incheon (41.1%), and Lee Chun-hee, Mayor of Sejong (41.4%) remained in the lower ranks.

Governor Lee Jae-myung’s job performance approval rating exceeded 70% among those in their 40s (73.6%) and 30s (71.7%). It recorded mid-to-high 60% levels among those in their 50s (67.1%) and 60s and older (65.0%). Those aged 20 and under showed a mid-50% level (55.8%).

By region, the northwest area including Goyang and Gimpo (73.0%) and the eastern area including Seongnam and Icheon (70.5%) exceeded 70%. The northern area (68.6%), southwest area (68.6%), and southern central area (64.3%) recorded mid-to-high 60% levels.

The southern outskirts area including Ansan and Anseong (56.9%) was recorded at mid-50%.

Positive evaluations of Governor Lee by region and age group were notably high in the northwest and eastern areas and among people in their 30s and 40s.

Governor Lee also ranked first with a 20% approval rating in the December next presidential candidate support survey released last week by Gallup Korea, widening the gap to 4 percentage points over Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea (16%).

Governor Lee notably took the lead in Honam and received overwhelming support from so-called pro-Moon (친문) supporters, including progressives, Democratic Party supporters, and supporters of President Moon Jae-in.

In particular, in Honam, Governor Lee (27%) narrowly led Lee Nak-yeon (26%) within the margin of error, attracting significant attention.

Among progressives, Governor Lee (34%) widened the gap to 8 percentage points over Lee Nak-yeon (26%). In the centrist group (Lee Jae-myung 19% vs. Lee Nak-yeon 14%) and conservative group (Lee Jae-myung 14% vs. Lee Nak-yeon 10%), Governor Lee led by 4 to 5 percentage points, indicating that he surpasses Lee Nak-yeon in terms of centrist-conservative expansion potential.

Furthermore, among supporters of President Moon Jae-in (Lee Jae-myung 30% vs. Lee Nak-yeon 33%) and Democratic Party supporters (Lee Jae-myung 31% vs. Lee Nak-yeon 36%), Governor Lee narrowed the gap to within 3 to 5 percentage points, showing a closing distance.

A close aide to Governor Lee stated, "Governor Lee Jae-myung’s consecutive first-place rankings in the presidential preference survey and positive evaluations of provincial governance demonstrate that the solid support of Gyeonggi residents for the provincial administration is expanding to encompass the next presidential election sentiment among voters across both ruling and opposition parties."

The aide added, "Governor Lee communicates and empathizes with the difficult lives of ordinary people in his own concrete way, and through this, he presents key policy visions such as the value of fairness he advocates, basic income, basic loans, and basic housing, receiving positive evaluations. These policies seem to be gaining favorable reviews as they differentiate him from other presidential candidates and metropolitan and provincial governors."

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