The gap between South Korea's two major political parties has narrowed as conservative voters rally ahead of the June 3 local elections, but the difference remains close to 30 percentage points, a new poll showed.
The Democratic Party of Korea registered 46% support while the People Power Party stood at 18%, according to the National Barometer Survey (NBS) released Wednesday. The poll was conducted from April 4 to 6 on 1,001 men and women aged 18 and older by Embrain Public, K-Stat Research, Korea Research, and Hankook Research.
Compared with the previous survey in the fourth week of April, the Democratic Party fell 2 percentage points while the People Power Party rose 3 percentage points. The Rebuilding Korea Party followed with 3%, the Reform Party with 2%, and the Progressive Party with 1%. Respondents who had no supported party or declined to answer, classified as "undecided," accounted for 29%.
Regarding the nature of the June 3 local elections, support for the government significantly outweighed calls for a check on the administration. The response that "the ruling party should be empowered for the current government's stable governance" stood at 54%, while the response that "the opposition party should be empowered to check the current government" was 32%.
On the need for constitutional amendment, 58% said revision is necessary, while 29% said it is not.
On holding the June 3 local elections and a national referendum on constitutional amendment simultaneously, 59% supported the proposal, while 27% opposed it.
The survey was conducted through telephone interviews using mobile phone virtual numbers (100%) provided by Korea's three major telecommunications carriers. The response rate was 19.8%, with a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. More details can be found on the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.
