Public Opinion Supports Investigations into Lee Jae-myung and Kim Gun-hee... Ruling and Opposition Parties Interpret 'As They Please'

與 "Gukmin see Lee investigation as justified"
野 "6 out of 10 Gukmin support Kim special prosecutor"
Same survey... unfavorable results 'ignored'

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is deep in thought at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 5th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] In a recent public opinion poll, more than half of the people said that the prosecution's investigation into Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, was "not a targeted investigation." More than half also viewed the "Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act," aimed at President Yoon Seok-yeol's wife Kim Geon-hee, as "necessary." Regarding the morality controversies that have arisen in the political sphere, public opinion across both ruling and opposition parties called for a fair investigation. This differed from the past when both sides highlighted each other's judicial risks while dismissing issues raised against themselves as "unfair political attacks."

In a survey conducted by Korea Research on behalf of MBC from the 7th to 8th with 1,001 respondents, 52.3% answered that the prosecution's investigation into Lee was "in accordance with legal procedures and not a targeted investigation." Meanwhile, 42.4% responded that it was "a problematic targeted investigation against the opposition party leader." A similar result was found in a survey by Next Research commissioned by SBS from the 8th to 9th with 1,004 respondents. 50.3% viewed the investigation into Lee as "based on law and principles," which was higher than the 42.1% who saw it as a "political retaliation investigation."

Public support for investigating Kim Geon-hee was also high. In the MBC survey, 64.7% of respondents considered the recent police decision to clear Kim of false career record allegations as an "unfair investigation result," while only 24.2% thought it was a "fair investigation result." Regarding the Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act proposed by the Democratic Party to clarify the suspicions, 62.7% said it was "necessary," while 32.4% said it was "not necessary." In the SBS survey, 55.0% responded that the Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act was "appropriate given the significant public suspicions." Detailed information on both surveys can be found on the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.

First Lady Kim Keon-hee, wife of President Yoon Suk-yeol. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Just before the Chuseok holiday, the prosecution indicted Lee, and in response, the Democratic Party proposed the Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act, escalating the confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties to an extreme level. The Democratic Party strongly opposed the prosecution's investigation, calling it a "blatant political oppression" targeting Lee and the opposition. The People Power Party argued that the full-scale investigation into Lee had not even started and dismissed the Democratic Party's claims of "political retaliation" as an outdated frame.

The confrontation continued even after the Chuseok holiday on the 13th. At a party strategy meeting that day, Floor Leader Park Hong-geun mentioned, "More than six out of ten people support the special prosecutor for Kim," and pressured the government and ruling party by saying, "The Chuseok public sentiment is, in one word, a sharp warning against a government operation where people's livelihoods have disappeared." However, he did not mention the part of the same survey where public opinion favored the legitimacy of the investigation into Lee.

The People Power Party was similar. At the party strategy meeting that day, Policy Committee Chairperson Sung Il-jong said, "I hope you remember that the public views the investigation into Lee as legitimate. (The Democratic Party) is only focused on protecting Lee and their own side, claiming 'equality before the law' is oppression, which is deceiving the public." However, regarding the high public support for the Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act, Sung said in an interview with KBS Radio's "Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs" that "the Democratic Party has been telling the public that this is political oppression, so it can be perceived that way depending on the questions asked," blaming the opposition party.

With both ruling and opposition parties offering different interpretations of the same poll results, the political conflict surrounding judicial risks appears to be intensifying. Some voices within the political sphere criticize this behavior. Former National Intelligence Service Director Park Ji-won wrote on Facebook, "The main topics at the Chuseok table were sighs and anxieties about the economic crisis and high prices, and resentment toward the president and political circles," emphasizing, "We should quickly hold a summit meeting between the ruling and opposition leaders, agree on a joint special prosecutor, entrust all investigations to them, and let the political circles focus on solving the economy, people's livelihoods, and prices."

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