By The Straits Times | Created at 2024-12-19 02:10:53 | Updated at 2024-12-19 04:59:07
3 hours ago
SEOUL - With support for President Yoon Suk Yeol’s People Power Party plummeting after his controversial Dec 3 martial law, over half of the respondents in a recent survey said Mr Yoon’s party should not even be considered a ruling party during his impeachment trial.
Local pollster Realmeter on Dec 19 revealed the results of a survey taken Dec 18 on 503 voters across the country, in which 52.6 per cent said the People Power Party “was not a ruling party” while Mr Yoon’s duties as the president has been suspended. Another 41.6 per cent said it is the ruling party, while the rest said they are unsure.
Mr Yoon is currently undergoing impeachment trial by the Constitutional Court, while being subject to criminal investigation for insurrection regarding his orders related to the recent short-lived martial law.
The Real Meter survey showed that 78.6 per cent of the pro-liberal respondents disregarded the current ruling party, while 67.5 per cent of the pro-conservative voters said it is still the ruling party.
When asked if the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea could be considered the current ruling party, 59.4 per cent said they can, opposed to 39.1 per cent that said they cannot.
Of respondents who said they were liberal, an overwhelming majority, 88.1 per cent, said the DPK should be the new ruling party, while 68 per cent of those supporting the conservative bloc said they cannot be considered as such.
This is not the first survey that showed faltering support for the embattled president’s party. A Dec 12 to 13 survey on 1,001 voters by the same polling agency showed 52.4 per cent for the Democratic Party and 25.7 per cent for the People Power Party.
The disparity in support, 26.7 per cent, marked the highest since Mr Yoon administration launched in May of 2022.
More specifically, the main opposition party saw its approval rating rise for the third straight week while the ruling party’s support dropped for the second straight week. The People Power Party’s support marked 32.3 per cent in the last week of November, but saw the figures drop to 26.2 per cent in the first week of December, taken immediately after Mr Yoon’s declaration of martial law. THE KOREA HERALD/ ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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