[비즈한국] According to a survey commissioned jointly by Maeil Business Newspaper and MBN, and conducted by Hangil Research from April 4-5 among 1,008 adults nationwide regarding the impeachment ruling, 64.4% of respondents stated that the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol was a correct decision. Conversely, 32.1% said it was the wrong decision, while 3.5% responded that they did not know.
However, opinions varied significantly depending on the political party supported. While 97.9% of Democratic Party supporters answered that the impeachment ruling was correct, 79% of People Power Party supporters answered it was the wrong decision. Among independent voters with no party affiliation, 70.1% viewed the impeachment ruling positively, while 23.7% viewed it negatively.
In terms of party approval ratings, the Democratic Party recorded the highest at 40.7%, followed by the People Power Party at 32.4%, the Rebuilding Korea Party at 3.9%, the Reform Party at 2.1%, and the Progressive Party at 0.7%. Other parties accounted for 2.6%, and the independent segment—comprising those with no party preference (16.6%) and those who answered "don't know" (1%)—stood at 17.6%.
Regarding who is suitable as the next presidential candidate, Representative Lee Jae-myung led for the Democratic Party, and Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Moon-soo led for the People Power Party.
For the Democratic Party, Representative Lee significantly outpaced other contenders with 47.4%. Gyeonggi Governor Kim Dong-yeon followed with 8.9%, former Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum with 8.2%, National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik with 4.2%, former South Gyeongsang Governor Kim Kyung-soo with 3.8%, former lawmaker Kim Doo-kwan with 2.4%, and South Jeolla Governor Kim Yung-rok with 0.7%.
Within the People Power Party, Minister Kim Moon-soo (18.6%) and former lawmaker Yoo Seong-min (13.9%) competed within the margin of error. They were followed by Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo (9.6%), former People Power Party Representative Han Dong-hoon (9.4%), Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon (5.3%), lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo (3.3%), and former Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong (2.6%). 28.7% of respondents answered that there was no suitable candidate.
It was found that Representative Lee Jae-myung would secure a majority lead in a head-to-head match against any of the 'Big 4' candidates from the People Power Party—Minister Kim Moon-soo, Mayor Oh Se-hoon, former Representative Han Dong-hoon, and Mayor Hong Joon-pyo.
In a hypothetical match between Representative Lee and Minister Kim, Representative Lee recorded 51.1% against Minister Kim’s 28.8%. In a match against Mayor Oh, Representative Lee polled 50.6% to Mayor Oh’s 22.7%. In a hypothetical match against former Representative Han, Representative Lee recorded 50.3% to his 18.2%, and against Mayor Hong, Representative Lee recorded 50.9% to Mayor Hong’s 26%.
Regarding the next presidential election, 52.8% of respondents believed an opposition candidate should be elected to achieve regime change, while 38.3% believed a ruling party candidate should be elected to maintain the current regime.
Meanwhile, regarding the proposal to shorten the next presidential term to three years through a constitutional amendment, 60.9% of respondents stated they did not agree, while 28.8% said they agreed.
This survey was conducted using a mixed method of wireless ARS (80.5%), wireless telephone interviews (15.6%), and wired telephone interviews (3.9%). The response rate was 5%, with a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
For more detailed information, please refer to the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.