A public opinion poll result released on the 7th showed that the support ratings for the People Power Party and the Democratic Party widened beyond the margin of error following the Constitutional Court's decision to dismiss former President Yoon Suk-yeol. The theory of regime change has been ahead of the theory of regime extension for six consecutive weeks, outside the margin of error.
According to a poll conducted by Realmeter at the request of the Energy Economy Newspaper from the 2nd to the 4th, surveying 1,516 voters aged 18 and older nationwide (with a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of ±2.5 percentage points), support for the People Power Party was recorded at 35.7%, while the Democratic Party stood at 44.8%.
Compared to a week ago, both the People Power Party and the Democratic Party fell by 0.4 percentage points and 2.5 percentage points, respectively. The gap between the two parties was 9.1 percentage points, with the Democratic Party maintaining a lead outside the margin of error for two consecutive weeks.
Regarding the decline in support rates for both parties, Realmeter noted, "Amid the worsening of economic instability due to recent wildfire recovery efforts and tariffs imposed by the United States, both the ruling and opposition parties are focusing 25% on political offensives in the impeachment phase, neglecting substantial responses to public livelihood issues," adding, "In particular, the lack of discussions between the ruling and opposition parties on key policies such as supplementary budget formulation and the reform of the national pension system appears to have led to public disappointment and acted as a cause for the decline in support rates for both sides."
While the Democratic Party saw a slight decline in most regions, it rose by 5.4 percentage points in the TK (Daegu and North Gyeongsang) region.
In contrast, the support rate erosion for the People Power Party was pronounced in TK and the Chungcheong region, as well as among those in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. The People Power Party's support in the TK region fell by 7.1 percentage points, while the support rate in the Chungcheong region declined by 5.1 percentage points.
Beyond the two main parties, support for the Justice Party rose by 1.5 percentage points to 5.2%, and the Reform Party increased by 1.0 percentage points to 3.3%, while the Progressive Party saw a rise of 0.2 percentage points to 1.2%. The undecided group grew by 0.3 percentage points to 8.2%.
In the survey on preference for the next ruling party, opinions in favor of "regime change by the opposition" accounted for 56.9%, while those favoring "regime extension" made up 37.0%. The response of "I don't know" was 6.1%. The gap between the two opinions was 19.9 percentage points, marking the sixth week that the opinion for regime change has been ahead outside the margin of error since the fourth week of February. Compared to a week ago, the regime change theory fell by 0.2 percentage points, while the theory of regime extension declined by 0.8 percentage points. Realmeter analyzed, "While the public sentiment for opposition-led regime change still remains dominant, the long-term political turmoil due to the impeachment situation and extreme confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties seem to have led to a slight decline in support rates for both sides."
Notably, among the moderate group, the regime change theory (65.7%) was more pronounced than the regime extension theory (29.6%). By ideological inclination, 74.6% of conservatives supported regime extension, while 92.5% of progressives backed regime change.
This survey was conducted using a 100% wireless automated response method, with a response rate of 6.6%. The survey was conducted using a random telephone dial method through a randomly generated sampling framework. For more details, please refer to the website of the Central Election Poll Survey Review Committee.