Will 'Oldboy' Succeed in His Comeback? "Choi Kyung-hwan Leads, Jung Dong-young Falls Behind"

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Will the so-called ‘Old Boys (OB)’?veteran lawmakers who have retired from the political frontline?succeed in making a comeback in this year’s general election? In Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk Province, a public opinion poll showed that former Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Choi Kyung-hwan (four-term) leads the incumbent People Power Party (PPP) lawmaker Yoon Doo-hyun by a margin beyond the margin of error in candidate suitability. On the other hand, in Jeonju-byeong, Jeonbuk Province, a poll indicated that former Minister of Unification Jeong Dong-young (four-term) trails incumbent Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Seong-joo within the margin of error in candidate suitability.

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According to a poll released by Media Tomato on the 26th (commissioned by News Tomato and conducted over two days from the 22nd to the 23rd, targeting 506 men and women aged 18 or older residing in the Gyeongsan area, using wireless ARS method), in the Gyeongsan area’s People Power Party candidate suitability, former Deputy Prime Minister Choi received 41.4%, incumbent lawmaker Yoon 22.4%, former Presidential Office administrator Jo Ji-yeon 6.0%, and Ryu In-hak, vice chairman of the PPP Central Committee’s Construction Division, 3.3%. Former Deputy Prime Minister Choi leads beyond the margin of error (±4.4%).

In the Jeonju-byeong poll (commissioned by News Tomato and conducted over two days from the 22nd to the 23rd, targeting 508 men and women aged 18 or older residing in the Jeonju-byeong area, using wireless ARS method), incumbent lawmaker Kim received 32.5%, former Minister Jeong 26.4%, former senior administrator of the Blue House Civil Affairs Office Hwang Hyun-seon 15.5%, and former Jeonju city councilor Kim Ho-seong 2.8%. Incumbent Kim leads former Minister Jeong within the margin of error (±4.3%).

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Regardless of support for individual candidates, calls for replacing incumbent lawmakers were high in both regions. In Gyeongsan, 61.1% of respondents, and in Jeonju-byeong, 60.4% of respondents said, “It would be better to replace the incumbent lawmaker with someone else.”

Negative opinions toward the candidacy of veteran former lawmakers were more prevalent than positive ones. However, in Gyeongsan, negative opinions stood at 38.8%, close to positive opinions at 29.1%, showing a small gap, whereas in Jeonju-byeong, negative opinions at 47.6% (positive 24.0%) were significantly higher.

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

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