Woo Sang-ho "Public sentiment is changing... Lee breaks out of the box, Yoon's approval rating stabilizes"

Woo Sang-ho, Chief of the Democratic Party's Election Committee
"Will Focus on Targeting Floating and Centrist Voters"

Woo Sang-ho, Chief of the General Election Countermeasures Headquarters of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the Headquarters Meeting of the Election Countermeasures Committee held at the Central Party Office in Yeouido, Seoul on the 7th, delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] "A change in the mood is being sensed from the grassroots level. Candidate Lee Jae-myung is breaking through the mid-30% box range and gaining momentum. We will target the floating and moderate voters to maintain this trend."

Woo Sang-ho, the General Headquarters Chief of the Lee Jae-myung campaign for the Democratic Party of Korea, stated this in a phone interview with Asia Economy on the 25th regarding the current situation and strategy.

In fact, a series of opinion polls have been released showing Candidate Lee closely trailing Candidate Yoon in a 'neck-and-neck' race. In the presidential candidate approval rating survey conducted by Gallup Korea (surveyed from the 22nd to the 24th), Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party of Korea (38%) and Yoon Seok-youl of the People Power Party (37%) were in a tight race with only a 1 percentage point difference. In the National Barometer Survey (NBS) conducted by four polling agencies including Korea Research from the 21st to the 23rd and announced on the 24th, Lee's approval rating was 37%, while Yoon's was 39%. In a survey conducted by Embrain Public on the 22nd and 23rd commissioned by JoongAng Ilbo, Lee and Yoon's approval ratings were 39.4% and 40.2%, respectively.

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, is campaigning on the afternoon of the 22nd at Rodeo Street Plaza in Incheon. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

He said, "With the unification issue removed and the 'four-way race (Lee Jae-myung, Yoon Seok-youl, Ahn Cheol-soo, Shim Sang-jung)' confirmed, the approval ratings have become extremely close," adding, "Yoon's approval rating has rather stagnated and is trapped in a box range, while Lee has escaped the mid-30% box range by increasing 3 to 4 percentage points." Woo emphasized, "There are still many undecided voters within the progressive, moderate, and conservative camps, and the key is how many of them we can attract." He added, "The floating voters are not necessarily supporting Lee more after seeing the TV debates, but they may feel skeptical or uncomfortable with Yoon's attitude and unprepared appearance."

Regarding the Democratic Party's political reform proposal centered on a runoff election and a responsible prime minister system, he said, "It is not an issue that immediately affects approval ratings, but it will have the effect of sending a message to the support bases of candidates Ahn Cheol-soo, Shim Sang-jung, and Kim Dong-yeon." He added, "Since Lee has raised political reform as an agenda, skeptical voters of candidates Ahn and Shim may influence the final decision-making at the last minute."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Woo predicted that the presidential election turnout would be 70-75%, and the early voting turnout on the 4th and 5th of next month would reach 35-40%. He said, "A day or two before early voting is a time when people make concrete decisions even if they do not participate in voting, so we have launched a full-scale offensive targeting early voting from this week." He added, "We plan to focus on the three major allegations against Candidate Yoon?military service corruption, stock price manipulation, and the Daejang-dong issue?while emphasizing Candidate Lee's comparative advantage as the 'crisis command center.'"

※ For detailed opinion poll information, please refer to the Realmeter website or the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.

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