In the Next Gyeongnam Governor Poll, Kim Kyung-soo Leads with 26.2% vs. Park Wan-su 14.4% ... Lee Ju-young 8.9%, Yeo Young-guk 2.7%

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Ju Cheol-in] A poll released on the 29th showed that residents of Gyeongnam Province most prefer the current Governor Kim Kyung-soo to continue as governor in the next local election.

According to a survey conducted by Weekly Chosun through the polling agency Mono Research over two days starting from the 23rd, 26.2% of 1,006 Gyeongnam residents surveyed preferred Governor Kim Kyung-soo as the next governor, across all parties.

This is 11.8 percentage points ahead of Park Wan-su, a member of the People Power Party, who ranked second with 14.4%. Following Park were former Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Lee Ju-young (8.9%), Representative Yoon Han-hong (5.3%), Representative Yoon Young-seok (3.6%), Representative Min Hong-chul (2.9%), Justice Party leader Yeo Young-guk (2.7%), and Representative Kim Jung-ho (2.9%), in that order.

Park, who served three terms as mayor of Changwon City, ranked first in suitability among People Power Party candidates with 18.5%, followed by former Minister Lee with 16.7%.

With Governor Kim topping the preference for the next Gyeongnam governor one year ahead of the local election, a green light has been lit for his re-election path. However, the final verdict on the Druking comment manipulation case remains an obstacle to his re-election.

In November last year, Kim was sentenced to two years in prison in the second trial and is currently appealing, awaiting the Supreme Court’s final ruling. Unlike Song Cheol-ho, mayor of Ulsan, who is on trial for the Blue House’s interference in the Ulsan mayoral election, the Druking comment manipulation case does not seem to have affected Kim’s approval ratings.

Kim confirmed his intention to seek re-election during a radio program appearance in December last year. He said, “Right now, as governor of Gyeongnam, provincial administration is the most important. It is difficult to achieve results in just four years, and to properly keep promises, it is right to continue steadily for about eight years. That is what I keep saying.”

Supporting this, Governor Kim Kyung-soo received the highest comprehensive evaluation grade (SA grade) in the nationwide city and provincial governors’ pledge fulfillment assessment recently announced by the Korea Manifesto Practice Headquarters.

Meanwhile, 14.4% responded that “there is no suitable candidate,” and 12.4% said “I don’t know.” The so-called undecided voters accounted for 26.8%, similar to Kim’s 26.2%.

The margin of error for this survey is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For more details, refer to the Mono Research or the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission websites.

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