When Asked About the Nature of Lee Jae-myung's Prosecutor Investigation... "Political Retaliation 54.0% > Legitimate Investigation 41.7%"

Media Tomato Poll
Centrist Group Supports Opposition Suppression Claims
53.6% Also Back Special Prosecutor Investigation

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is delivering a speech at the "Emergency On-site Inspection for Financial Crisis Countermeasures" held at the Korea Exchange in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 27th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] More than half of the public views the prosecution's investigation into Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, as a ‘political oppression and retaliation investigation’ by the opposition party. Public opinion favored a special prosecutor rather than the prosecution to handle the Daejang-dong related allegations, including Lee’s presidential campaign funds.

According to a public opinion poll released on the 28th by Media Tomato (conducted on 1,033 men and women nationwide aged 18 and over from the 24th to 26th, commissioned by News Tomato), 54.0% of respondents described the nature of the prosecution’s investigation into Lee as ‘political oppression and retaliation investigation.’ Those who viewed it as a ‘legitimate investigation into allegations’ accounted for 41.7%, and 4.4% responded that they did not know.

The opinions of progressives and conservatives were clearly divided. Among conservatives, 74.2% viewed it as a legitimate investigation into allegations, while 83.2% of progressives saw it as political oppression and retaliation. Notably, the centrist group showed that 55.3% believed it was political oppression and retaliation, significantly outnumbering the 37.8% who saw it as a legitimate investigation.

Lee advocated for clarifying the Daejang-dong related allegations, including presidential campaign funds, through a special prosecutor, and public opinion largely supported this. When asked about the investigative authority over the overall Daejang-dong criminal allegations including Lee’s presidential campaign funds, 53.6% of respondents expressed that it should be clarified through a special prosecutor. Those who believed the prosecution should investigate accounted for 36.9%, and 9.5% were unsure.

Regarding the public opinion on whether Lee should step down following the arrest of Kim Yong, deputy director of the Democratic Research Institute, for violating the Political Funds Act, 46.1% opposed his resignation, 37.3% supported it, 13.2% said they needed to observe the investigation situation, and 3.4% were unsure.

Regarding President Yoon’s administration, positive evaluations stood at 32.1% (12.5% very well, 19.6% generally well), while negative evaluations were 65.3% (7.1% generally poorly, 58.2% very poorly). The approval rating remained the same as last week’s survey, with a 0.3 percentage point decrease in negative evaluations.

For detailed survey methodology and results related to the poll, please refer to the website of the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission.

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