Ahn Cheol-soo Breaks 10% Support Rate for the First Time, "Confident Our Country Will Become a Top 5 Global Economic Power"

People's Party presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo and his wife, Seoul National University professor Kim Mi-kyung, visited Noryangjin Fish Market in Seoul on the 1st to shop and talk with merchants to celebrate the New Year.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seoyoung Kwon] Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, expressed his aspiration to "become a clean president and set the country right" amid a continuous rise in his poll ratings.

On the 1st, after paying respects at the National Seoul National Cemetery in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, Candidate Ahn made this statement. Regarding the poll results showing his support rate surpassing 10% for the first time, he pointed out, "The public’s desire for a competent and moral leader is growing like snow," adding, "there is increasing skepticism about the major party candidates concerning moral flaws, family issues, and governing capabilities."

On the same day, Candidate Ahn reportedly wrote in the guestbook, "I will definitely make Korea one of the world’s top five economic powers through a clean Blue House and a super-gap in science and technology." He emphasized, "Reforms for the people can only be made without colluding with vested interests," and continued, "I am confident that by becoming a science and technology-centered nation and competing globally, Korea can enter the world’s top five economic powers. I will do my best for that." In his New Year greeting distributed to reporters, he described himself as a so-called "slow starter" and said, "I ask for your understanding in advance as I think I will keep the press busy at an accelerating pace."

Earlier, Research & Research, a polling agency, conducted a survey commissioned by Segye Ilbo from the 27th to the 29th of last month targeting over 1,000 adults aged 18 and older (margin of error ±3.1 percentage points). In this poll, Candidate Ahn recorded a support rate of 10.3%, exceeding 10% for the first time since announcing his presidential bid. Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, had a support rate of 35.5%, Yoon Seok-youl of the People Power Party had 30.9%, and Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party had 4.1%.

Subsequently, Hankook Research conducted a survey commissioned by Hankook Ilbo from the 29th to the 30th of last month targeting over 1,500 adults aged 18 and older (margin of error ±3.1 percentage points). In this survey, Candidate Ahn recorded a support rate of 9.0%, receiving relatively high support among voters aged 18?29 and those in their 30s, with 11.6% and 12.1% respectively, groups considered the casting vote in this election. Meanwhile, Candidate Lee had 34.3%, and Candidate Yoon had 28.7% support rates, with a 5.6 percentage point gap between the two candidates, within the margin of error, with Candidate Lee leading.

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