Cracks in the Yoon Seok-yeol and Hong Joon-pyo Duopoly? ... Rising Support for 'Yoo Seung-min and Won Hee-ryong'

Asia Economy Regular Survey Conducted on the 25th-26th
Conservative Opposition Candidate Suitability: Hong Jun-pyo and Yoon Seok-youl Support Declines
Yoo Seung-min and Won Hee-ryong Show Upward Trend
Increase in 'Swing Voters' Including No Preferred Candidate and Other Candidate Support Also Notable

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] After the second cut-off for the People Power Party's presidential candidates on the 8th, an upward trend in approval ratings was observed for former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min and former Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong among the party's presidential hopefuls.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to a public opinion poll conducted on the 12th by Asia Economy through Win-Gi Korea Consulting, in the 'Conservative Opposition Presidential Candidate Suitability Survey,' former lawmaker Yoo's approval rating ranked third at 13.2%. Notably, his approval rating increased by 3.1 percentage points compared to the previous regular survey (September 25-26). Former Governor Won's approval rating was 3.9%, which is a 2.5 percentage point rise from the previous poll's 1.4%.

On the other hand, in the conservative opposition presidential candidate suitability survey, former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl and lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo, who ranked first and second respectively, saw their approval ratings decline. Former Prosecutor General Yoon, who was second with 29.5% in the previous survey, dropped by 0.5 percentage points to 29% this time but still rose to first place. Lawmaker Hong's approval rating fell by 5.4 percentage points from 33.5% to 28.1%, placing him second. People Power Party leader Ahn Cheol-soo also saw a decrease from 3.7% to 3%, down 0.7 percentage points.

This survey is notable because, despite the reduction in the number of conservative opposition presidential candidates, the gains and losses among candidates varied. The People Power Party reduced its eight presidential primary candidates to four through the second cut-off on the 8th. Accordingly, the number of candidates appearing in the conservative opposition presidential candidate suitability survey also decreased from nine (including Ahn Cheol-soo, based on the previous survey) to nine candidates comprising the four who passed the second cut-off?former Governor Won, former lawmaker Yoo, former Prosecutor General Yoon, and leader Hong?and Ahn Cheol-soo, totaling five.

Besides the rise in approval ratings for former lawmaker Yoo and former Governor Won as the number of candidates decreased from nine to five, the increase in the undecided voter segment is also noteworthy.

In the poll, the percentage of respondents supporting 'other figures' increased from 2.2% to 6.2%. Those who answered 'no preferred candidate' rose from 10.5% to 13.3%, and the proportion of respondents who answered 'don't know' also increased from 1.9% to 3.4%. Overall, the undecided voter base has expanded.

The emergence of such changes in approval ratings at the start of the People Power Party's main presidential primary signals the possibility of a shift in the two-horse race between former Prosecutor General Yoon and lawmaker Hong, drawing attention.

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