The countdown to South Korea’s presidential election
□ Wang Gang, our reporter in South Korea
On March 9, South Korea will hold its 20th presidential election. At present, a total of four candidates are running for the election: Lee Jae-myung, presidential candidate of the ruling party’s Common Democratic Party, Yin Xiyue, presidential candidate of the opposition National Power Party, Ahn Cheol-soo, presidential candidate of the National Power Party, and Shen Sang-sang, presidential candidate of the Justice Party. The latest poll results show that Lee Jae-myung and Yin Xiyue have the same support rate, leading the other two presidential candidates, and the “two strong” showdown is obvious. At the same time, whether the two largest opposition parties, the National Power Party and the National Power Party, will launch a single presidential candidate in the sprint stage of the evenly-matched general election and jointly “snipe” the Common Democratic Party will also become a major variable in this election.
The latest poll results released by four polling agencies including Korea Research on February 10 showed that both Lee Jae-ming and Yin Xiyue had 35% approval rates, of which Lee Jae-ming’s approval rate was the same as the previous survey conducted from January 24 to 26. , while Yin Xiyue’s approval rate rose 1 percentage point from the previous survey. An Zhexiu’s approval rate was 9%, down 1 percentage point from the previous time. Shen Xiangyu’s approval rate was 4%, an increase of 2 percentage points from the previous time.
Regarding the question of “who is most likely to be elected as the next president regardless of their own support tendency”, 43% of them think that Yin Xiyue is more likely to be elected, which is higher than Li Zaiming’s 34%. This is the first time in all Korean public opinion polls conducted this year that Yin Xiyue’s possibility of being elected has overwhelmed Li Zaiming. According to South Korean media reports, there are many differences between Yin Xiyue and Li Zaiming, who are most likely to be the president of South Korea. Yin Xiyue came from a family of scholars, while Li Zaiming came from a poor family. Before the election, Yin Xiyue worked in the judicial system for a long time, while Li Zaiming mostly served as the head of the local government.
According to the latest poll results, in terms of favorability of candidates, An Zhexiu topped the list with 48%, followed by Yin Xiyue (40%), Li Zaiming (39%), and Shen Xiangyu (15%). In terms of personal moral quality of candidates, An Zhexiu topped the list with 40%, followed by Yin Xiyue (16%), Shen Xiangxi (15%), and Li Zaiming (12%). When asked whether the televised debates of the four-party presidential candidates affected the voting results, 48% of respondents answered in the affirmative, while 46% answered in the negative.
At present, the approval ratings of Yin Xiyue and Li Zaiming are in the middle, and there are still many variables in who can win in the end. It is reported that a poll shows that if the two largest opposition parties, the National Power Party and the National Power Party, launch a single presidential candidate, they will “win over Lee Jae-ming.” The outside world believes that whether Yin Xiyue and An Zhexiu can “jointly fight against Lee” will become the biggest variable in the 20th South Korean presidential election.
However, Yin Xiyue has recently had friction with the presidential palace due to inappropriate words, which may have an impact on the election. On February 9, Yin Xiyue said in an interview with South Korean media that if elected, he will thoroughly investigate the previous government’s fraud case as in the early days of the Moon Jae-in administration, but “at that time, he will not interfere in the investigation process.” The remarks sparked a strong reaction from the South Korean presidential palace. On February 10, a senior official of South Korea’s Blue House criticized Yin Xiyue’s recent remarks, saying it was “an inferior election strategy”. Wen Zaiyin also asked Yin Xiyue to apologize immediately when he chaired the meeting of chief secretaries on the 10th. In the face of intensifying criticism, Yin Xiyue changed his tune and said on the 10th: “President Moon Jae-in has always emphasized that the case is handled honestly in accordance with the law and principles, and I think the same.” However, Yin Xiyue did not respond directly to Moon Jae-in’s request for an apology.
At present, in addition to paying attention to the dynamics of presidential candidates, all walks of life in South Korea are paying attention to several key time nodes related to the presidential election: February 13 and 14 are the registration days of presidential candidates, February 28 is the day of printing the ballots, 3 March 4 and 5 are “pre-voting” days, and March 9 is the official polling day. At the critical moment when the presidential candidate registration day is approaching, some members of the National Power Party have urged that a single candidate should be elected before the registration day, and Ahn Zhexiu will also face a choice.
With the March 9 polling day approaching, both Yin Xiyue and Li Zaiming are making a final push to win over “swing” voters.