By The Straits Times | Created at 2025-01-10 05:14:10 | Updated at 2025-01-10 10:22:04
5 hours ago
SEOUL – The support rate for South Korea’s main opposition that has been leading the impeachment campaign against President Yoon Suk Yeol dived, as investigators struggle to arrest the embattled leader.
The approval rate for the opposition Democratic Party fell to 36 per cent in a poll released on Jan 10 by Gallup Korea, down 12 percentage points from the previous survey released in December.
The support rate for Mr Yoon’s People Power Party rose to 34 per cent from 24 per cent during the same period, rising above the level of support reported days before Mr Yoon’s martial law decree.
The latest poll was conducted among 1,004 respondents across the country and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, Gallup Korea said.
The drop in support for the opposition follows its impeachment of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo who briefly took on the role of acting president, and investigators’ failure to arrest Mr Yoon last week after an hourslong standoff with his security team.
“These events appear to have heightened a sense of crisis among the ruling party supporters over a power transition while dampening expectations by moderates and liberals that had been supporting the main opposition party,” Gallup Korea said in the report.
The number of respondents who favour opposition leader Lee Jae-myung as the next president also fell to 32 per cent from 37 per cent in the previous survey conducted days after Mr Yoon’s Dec 14 impeachment. The latest survey showed 64 per cent respondents are in favour of Mr Yoon’s impeachment, compared to 32 per cent against the campaign.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials is mulling how to bring Mr Yoon into custody, a week after they gave up on their first try to haul him in for questioning over his Dec 3 martial law declaration.
Mr Yoon has remained defiant against efforts to detain him for a criminal investigation, arguing that it was within his constitutional rights.
Police on Jan 10 called in Mr Yoon’s security chief, Park Chong-jun, who has led the operation to block the probe team’s arrest warrant execution over alleged obstruction of duties. It is not immediately clear if police will try to arrest Mr Park, which will likely raise the chance of Mr Yoon’s arrest.
Mr Yoon’s representatives say the arrest warrant is invalid and illegal, because the CIO has no legal authority to investigate insurrection charges. The office arbitrarily chose a court in a different district to improve its chances of obtaining the warrant, they said.
Separate to the criminal investigation efforts, the Constitutional Court is set to begin a trial on Jan 14 to decide whether to ultimately oust Mr Yoon, a process that could take up to six months. If the impeachment is upheld, South Korea must hold an election within 60 days. BLOOMBERG
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