According to a survey on the suitability of a presidential candidate announced today by the Korea Social Opinion Research Institute (KSOI), commissioned by TBS, on the 6th and 7th for 1,004 people over the age of 18 nationwide, this branch ranked first with 28.4%, a 1.0 percentage point increase from the previous week. went up President Yoon, who fell 4.0 percentage points during the same period, fell to 28.3%, placing only the second place within the margin of error (±3.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level of sampling error). In addition, the approval rate for each candidate was 16.2%, followed by former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon at 16.2%, former auditor Choi Jae-hyung at 6.1%, People’s Strength Assemblyman Hong Jun-pyo 4.2%, former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min 3.5%, and former Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae 3.2% in order.
This is the first time since the first week of March, when he resigned from the office of prosecutor-general, that former President Yoon gave up first place to Governor Lee in the KSOI regular investigation. According to the KSOI, the extent of the decline in the approval rating of former president Yoon was particularly large in Seoul, the self-employed, those in their 50s, and female voters. Compared to a survey conducted immediately after resigning from the post of president, Seoul’s approval rating fell by 14.6 percentage points from 39.8% to 25.2%. The approval rate for the self-employed fell from 39.3% to 28.6%, the approval rate for those in their 50s fell from 35.3% to 25.4%, and the approval rate for women fell from 32.6% to 27.0%, respectively. In a survey asking about the ‘probability of winning the next presidential election,’ regardless of the candidates supported, 34.3% of Governor Lee, 33.4% of former President Yoon, 15.2% of former President Lee, and 4.3% of former President Choi were ranked.
Former president Choi ranked 4th in the total candidate group of the ruling and opposition parties, but only 6th in the degree of suitability for a presidential candidate from the opposition party, resulting in a result of being pushed back among conservatives. The approval ratings from the opposition party were 30.5% for former President Yoon, 13.6% for Assemblyman Hong, 10.2% for former Assemblyman Yoo, 5.7% for former Jeju governor Won Hee-ryong, 5.4% for People’s Party leader Ahn Cheol-soo, and 5.3% for former President Choi. It is interpreted that the appearance of former president Choi avoiding answering the pending question at the declaration of candidacy on the 4th, saying “I will think about it,” was seen as unprepared by the opposition supporters.
Meanwhile, when Choi visited Seomun Market in Daegu on the 6th, he was embroiled in controversy over violating the Public Official Election Act for using a microphone to say, “I will achieve a regime change” and “trust me.” Under the Election Act, it is illegal to use a loudspeaker device or conduct an election campaign for a large number of people at outdoor gatherings outside of the election campaign period.
[정주원 기자 / 이석희 기자]
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