A public opinion poll result released on the 28th showed that the partisan support rates of the People Power Party and the Democratic Party of Korea widened beyond the margin of error. In terms of preference for the next leader, Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung was in the lead.

Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party, who is acquitted in the appeal hearing for violating the Public Official Election Act, is leaving the court after the second trial ruling for alleged violations of the Public Official Election Act at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on Oct. 26. /Courtesy of News1

The Korea Gallup conducted a survey of 1,000 men and women aged 18 and older nationwide from the 25th to the 27th, which showed the support rate for the People Power Party at 33% and the Democratic Party at 41% (with a 95% confidence level and a sampling error of ±3.1 percentage points). The proportion of those with no party preference, or the 'independent' group, was 21%.

In this survey, the gap in support rates between the People Power Party and the Democratic Party was 8 percentage points, widening beyond the margin of error. In the previous survey conducted from March 18 to 20, the People Power Party had 36%, and the Democratic Party had 40%, resulting in a partisan support gap of 4 percentage points. The support gap remained constant at 4 percentage points since the first week of March until this survey.

In the upcoming presidential election, 34% of respondents said it would be better for the ruling party candidate to be elected to maintain the current administration, while 53% said it would be better for the opposition party candidate to be elected for a change of government. Compared to the last survey, the responses in favor of maintaining the government decreased by 5 percentage points, while those favoring a change of government increased by 2 percentage points.

Preference for future political leaders was highest for Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung at 34%. Following behind were Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Moon-soo at 8%, former People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon at 5%, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo both at 3%, former Justice Party leader Cho Kuk at 2%, and People Power Party member Ahn Cheol-soo at 1%.

Support for the impeachment of President Yoon Suk-yeol was 60%, while opposition stood at 34%. Among the respondents, 7% reserved their opinions. Compared to the previous survey, support for Yoon's impeachment increased by 2 percentage points, while opposition decreased by 2 percentage points.

This survey was conducted via telephone interviews with randomly selected mobile phone virtual numbers. The response rate was 13.0%. For more details, refer to the National Election Opinion Survey Deliberation Committee.