Support for Democratic Party of Korea and People Power Party candidates in the Yeongnam region has narrowed in various opinion polls. It appears that conservative voters have rallied after the Democratic Party recently introduced what it called the "fabricated indictment special counsel bill." The fabricated indictment special counsel bill sparked controversy because it included a clause allowing the special counsel to cancel the indictment in Lee Jae-myung's case.

Democratic Party of Korea Seoul mayoral candidate Chong Won-o and People Power Party Seoul mayoral candidate Oh Se-hoon greet each other as they attend side by side the 54th Parents' Day commemorative event hosted by the Seoul Federation of the Korean Senior Citizens Association at Jangchung Arena in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 6th./Courtesy of News1

In a poll (wireless telephone face-to-face survey) of 800 eligible voters in Seoul conducted by Ipsos for SBS on the 1st to 3rd, Democratic Party of Korea candidate Chong Won-o had 41% and People Power Party candidate Oh Se-hoon had 34%. The gap between the two candidates was 7 percentage points (p). Earlier, in a wireless telephone face-to-face survey of 800 Seoul voters conducted on the 28th to 29th last month by Korea Research International for MBC, Chong had 48% and Oh had 32%, a difference of 16%p.

In Daegu, a poll conducted by Metavoice and Research Lab for JTBC on the 5th to 6th among 804 eligible voters in Daegu showed Democratic Party of Korea candidate Kim Boo-kyum at 40% and People Power Party candidate Choo Kyung-ho at 41%, indicating a neck-and-neck race within the margin of error. Responses saying there was no one to vote for or they did not know came to 18%.

For the Busan mayoral race, a wireless ARS survey of 1,013 eligible voters in Busan conducted by Hangil Research for Busan MBC on the 1st to 2nd found Democratic Party of Korea candidate Chun Jae-soo at 46.9% and People Power Party candidate Park Heong-joon at 40.7%. The gap was 6.2%p. In a wireless ARS survey of 801 Busan voters by the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI) on the 12th to 13th last month, Chun had 48% and Park had 35.2%, which was outside the margin of error.

Kim Boo-kyum, Democratic Party of Korea Daegu mayoral candidate (left), speaks at a support declaration event by the Daegu chapter of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, and Choo Kyung-ho, People Power Party Daegu mayoral candidate, speaks at a support declaration event by the Community Educators Association, on the 8th./Courtesy of News1

Gyeongnam and Ulsan are also tight races. In a wireless ARS poll of 1,000 eligible voters in Gyeongnam conducted on the 1st to 2nd by Mono Research for the Gyeongnam Ilbo, Democratic Party of Korea candidate Kim Kyeong-soo was at 41.9% and People Power Party candidate Park Wan-su was at 44.1%. In a poll (wireless ARS and landline RDD) of 804 eligible voters in Ulsan conducted on the 4th to 5th by Public Opinion Research for KBS Ulsan and the Ulsan Maeil newspaper, Democratic Party of Korea candidate Kim Sang-wook was at 32.9% and People Power Party candidate Kim Doo-kyum was at 37.1%. The Progressive Party candidate Kim Jong-hoon was at 14.2%, and independent candidate Park Maeng-woo followed at 8.5%.

Political circles say the narrowing gaps in support among the candidates reflect the impact of the recent fabricated indictment special counsel drive pushed by the ruling party. The Democratic Party carried out a "fabricated indictment parliamentary probe" into cases indicted under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration and then introduced a special counsel bill. However, after controversy over canceling the indictment in the president's case, they decided to take it up after the local elections.

For details of the aforementioned opinion polls, refer to the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.

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