[Report] "No More Kkondae" vs "Kids and Politics?" The Lee Jun-seok Wave, Divergent Public Sentiment in Sangye-dong

"No Problem If Lee Jun-seok Becomes Party Leader", "Political Novices Are Too Risky"
People Power Party Leader Candidate Suitability Poll
Lee Jun-seok 41.3% 1st Place... Na Kyung-won 20.6%, Joo Ho-young 9.7%
People Power Party Support Rate 38% 'Rising'

The bustling area "Munhwa Street" located in Sanggye-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul, the hometown of Lee Jun-seok, the People Power Party's presidential candidate. Photo by Seunggon Han hsg@asiae.co.kr

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] "Young people can do politics.", "Politics is not a game..."

Evaluations of Lee Jun-seok, the People Power Party's candidate for party leader, were even more sharply divided in his hometown of Sanggye-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul. On the afternoon of the 6th, young people met in the bustling 'Culture Street' near Nowon Station and responded, "Politics is all the same anyway," and "I hope young people bring some innovation." On the other hand, among middle-aged people in their 40s and 50s, negative views emerged, saying, "Politics is not a game."

Kim, a college student in his 20s, emphasized, "There may be various meanings to Lee Jun-seok's high ratings in opinion polls, but first of all, isn't it an evaluation that politics is somewhat lacking right now? For that reason, Lee Jun-seok seems to be popular." He added, "The public is supporting Lee Jun-seok, so I hope the (established) politicians think carefully about why that is."

Park, a company employee in his 30s, said, "Lee Jun-seok seems popular because current lawmakers are not doing well," and criticized, "If they had done well, this wouldn't have happened. In that sense, I hope other lawmakers reflect a bit."

While Lee is gaining popularity among young people, a poll on the suitability of the next People Power Party leader showed Lee Jun-seok ranking first.

On the 6th, PNR Research, commissioned by Money Today and the Future Korea Institute, announced the results of a survey conducted on the 5th with 1,002 adults using 100% automated response and wireless phone surveys. Lee Jun-seok recorded 41.3%, ranking first.

Candidate Na Kyung-won ranked second with 20.6%, followed by Joo Ho-young (9.7%), Hong Moon-pyo (3.3%), and Cho Kyung-tae (3.2%). In a survey of 339 People Power Party supporters, Lee led with 49.9%, Na had 28.3%, and Joo had 11.5%.

Lee led across regions, ages, and genders. Notably, in Daegu-Gyeongbuk (TK), the largest conservative support base, he received 48.7%, the highest nationwide. The margin of error for this survey is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

The bustling area "Munhwa Street" located in Sanggye-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul, the hometown of Lee Jun-seok, the People Power Party's presidential candidate. Photo by Seunggon Han hsg@asiae.co.kr

Although Lee enjoys high support in opinion polls and among People Power Party supporters, critical opinions emerged among middle-aged people in their 40s and 50s. They pointed out that he cannot be trusted due to lack of political experience.

Park, a company employee in his 40s, said about Lee, "Isn't he someone whose political skills haven't been properly verified yet?" He raised his voice, "If driving is considered, he's literally a 'novice driver.' Driving like that is dangerous, so how can we entrust politics to a beginner? This is not an experiment; it's a matter of livelihood."

Kim, a taxi driver in his 50s, said firmly, "Politics is not a game; what politics do kids have?" He pointed out, "If Lee Jun-seok becomes the party leader of the People Power Party, the Democratic Party will gain political momentum, and the opposition will only experience a crushing defeat." He added, "Both the ruling and opposition parties should compete well, but this could collapse, and the people will suffer the consequences."

Such criticism can be seen as a critique of Lee's lack of political leadership. Professor Kim Ho-gi of Yonsei University's Department of Sociology pointed out this situation in an interview with 'KBS Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs' on the 4th. Professor Kim said, "Currently, the leader Lee Jun-seok exists, but his leadership philosophy seems somewhat unclear," and emphasized, "New visions or philosophies do not just fall from the sky or suddenly emerge. It might be necessary to refer to conservatives in other countries as a guide."

On the afternoon of the 6th, Lee Jun-seok, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, visited the Ulsan Nam-gu People Power Party Ulsan City Party Office and held a meeting with party members. / Yonhap News

Meanwhile, as evaluations of Lee differ between young and middle-aged groups, the weekly approval rating of the People Power Party ahead of the party leader election rose by 2.4 percentage points from the previous week. The party's approval rating was the second highest since the 2016 political scandal.

According to a survey conducted by Realmeter commissioned by YTN from the 31st of last month to the 4th of this month targeting 2,519 voters aged 18 and over nationwide, the party approval ratings were 38% for the People Power Party and 29.7% for the Democratic Party, down 0.8 percentage points from the previous week. The gap between the two parties was 8.3 percentage points, outside the margin of error for 12 consecutive weeks. Other parties followed with the People's Party at 7.5%, Open Democratic Party at 5.8%, and Justice Party at 3.9%.

Support for the People Power Party among centrists rose significantly. Centrist support increased by 5.7 percentage points to 43.8%. Regionally, support rose in Gwangju-Jeolla (up 8.3 percentage points to 17.2%) and Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam (up 7.2 percentage points to 48.9%).

By gender, support rose 4 percentage points to 43.4% among men and 0.8 percentage points to 32.7% among women. A Realmeter official analyzed, "The rise is due to the 'Lee Jun-seok whirlwind' convention effect and the public activities of former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl."

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