[Polpol News] Gallup "People Power Party 37% · Democratic Party 31% ... 6% for Jo Guk Innovation Party in First Survey"

Handonghun Leads Lee Jaemyung as 'Next Leader'
President Yoon's Top Support Reason: 'Expansion of Medical School Quotas'

Former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk's new party, the ‘Cho Kuk Innovation Party,’ has attracted significant public attention. The party recorded double-digit support rates among proportional representation parties, drawing interest. In the next leader preference poll, Han Dong-hoon, the Emergency Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, was found to be slightly ahead of Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, within the margin of error.

According to a Gallup poll released on the 8th (conducted from the 5th to 7th, interviewing 1,000 people nationwide aged 18 and over using virtual wireless phone numbers), 37% supported the People Power Party, 31% supported the Democratic Party, 6% supported the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, and 3% supported the Reform Innovation Party. Compared to the previous survey, support for the People Power Party dropped by 3 percentage points, and the Democratic Party by 2 percentage points. Meanwhile, the newly included Cho Kuk Innovation Party immediately showed a 6% support rate, making it the most prominent new party to emerge this year.

Separately from party support, when asked which party should win the most seats in the general election, 39% said the People Power Party, 35% said the Democratic Party, and 16% said a third-party bloc. Gallup explained, "By age group, over 60s favored the ruling party’s victory at over 60%, while those in their 40s notably favored the main opposition party’s victory at 54%, but other age groups showed relatively dispersed preferences."

An interesting point is that among those who said they support the Democratic Party, 82% answered that the Democratic Party should be the majority party. Conversely, among those who supported the People Power Party, 91% said the People Power Party should be the majority party. This suggests that the People Power Party’s support base is more consolidated, while the Democratic Party’s support base appears more fragmented.

In the proportional representation vote, the Cho Kuk Innovation Party also showed strength. Among respondents, 37% supported the People Power Party’s satellite party, People Power Future; 25% supported the Democratic Party-centered proportional alliance, the Democratic Union; 15% supported the Cho Kuk Innovation Party; and 5% supported the Reform Innovation Party. Among People Power Party supporters, 90% said they supported the satellite party, while Democratic Party supporters were split between the Democratic Union at 62% and the Cho Kuk Innovation Party at 26%.

In the next presidential candidate preference poll, Chairman Han ranked first with 24%. Leader Lee Jae-myung was second with 23%, and Cho Kuk, leader of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, was third with 3%. Compared to a month ago, Chairman Han’s support rose by 1 percentage point, while Lee’s dropped by 3 percentage points. Han Dong-hoon, who had stood out since the current government’s inauguration, recorded the highest figure in this Gallup regular survey, surpassing Lee for the first time within the margin of error.

President Yoon Suk-yeol’s approval rating remained at 39%, the same as last week. Negative evaluations rose by 1 percentage point to 54%. The most frequently cited reason for supporting President Yoon was the ‘expansion of medical school quotas.’ It appears that this public opinion trend is behind President Yoon’s push to expand medical school quotas.

For detailed information such as the survey outline, please refer to the website of the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission.

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