Support for the People Power Party has turned downward. After the June 3 local elections it at times led the Democratic Party of Korea, but it has been overtaken again and the gap is widening.
Realmeter said on the 13th that, in a party support poll (wireless ARS) commissioned by Energy Economy News and conducted on the 9th to 10th of this month among 1,002 people nationwide age 18 and older, the Democratic Party of Korea recorded 44.8% and the People Power Party 38.1%. The Democratic Party of Korea rose 1.8 percentage points from the previous week, while the People Power Party fell 2.2 percentage points.
In a Realmeter survey, the People Power Party led the Democratic Party of Korea in the second week of June. However, it allowed a reversal in the survey two weeks later on the previous week, and in this survey the gap between the two parties widened beyond the margin of error.
In this survey, the People Power Party's approval rating in its base PK region plunged 20.7 percentage points. By contrast, the Democratic Party of Korea rose 25.2 percentage points, widening the gap. In Gangwon, a conservative stronghold, the Democratic Party of Korea also outpaced the People Power Party. In the greater Seoul area, support for the People Power Party rose slightly, but it was not enough to stop the broader decline.
Realmeter said, "The Democratic Party of Korea appears to have continued its upward support trend as large-scale regional investment plans, such as creating a semiconductor industrial complex in Honam, coincided with convention effects ahead of the party leadership election," adding, "For the People Power Party, as disciplinary disputes surrounding intraparty factional conflict intensified and the full boycott of National Assembly standing committees dragged on, support eroded among core bases, including seniors in their 70s and older and voters in Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang, leading to a continued downturn."
Support for the People Power Party is declining across other surveys as well. Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok's call for a by-election and the resumption of disciplinary action appear to be having a negative rather than positive impact on support.
The margin of sampling error for the Realmeter party support poll is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, and the response rate was 3.3%. For details, see the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.