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(Seoul=Yonhap Infomax) Da Ye On – Ahead of next June’s local elections, a new poll shows that 4 in 10 South Koreans expect a victory for the ruling party.
According to Korea Gallup’s survey conducted from the 18th to the 20th among 1,000 adults aged 18 and over nationwide, 42% of respondents said “ruling party candidates should win more seats,” while 35% favored “opposition party candidates.”
Another 23% withheld their opinion. Among progressives, 71% expect a ruling party win, while 70% of conservatives anticipate an opposition victory.
The centrist group, which was evenly split last month, shifted this month toward the ruling party, widening the overall gap. The share of centrists expecting a ruling party win rose from 38% last month to 44% this month.
Regarding the economic outlook for the next year, 40% of respondents said South Korea’s economy will “improve,” while 35% expect it to “worsen” and 22% believe it will “remain the same.” Three percent were undecided.
Optimism increased by 7 percentage points from the previous month, while pessimism fell by the same margin, marking a return to economic optimism for the first time in four months. Korea Gallup attributed this shift to the conclusion of South Korea-US tariff negotiations and the KOSPI index surpassing the 4,000 mark.
Economic optimism reached a peak of 52% in June this year, the highest in eight years, while pessimism hit a low of 25% following the launch of the current administration.
As for household finances over the next year, 23% expect improvement, 23% foresee deterioration, and 51% believe conditions will remain unchanged. The outlook for household finances, which was at its most positive in eight years in June, has moderated since August.
Korea Gallup noted, “Unlike the economic outlook, the household finance outlook remains at last month’s level. Ongoing instability in housing prices and exchange rates, as well as high interest rates and inflation, mean that individuals do not feel as much change in their daily lives as is seen in the domestic stock market.”
The survey was conducted via computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) using randomly selected mobile virtual numbers provided by South Korea’s three major telecom operators. The margin of error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. The contact rate was 46.0%, and the response rate was 12.5%.
For further details, refer to the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.
dyon@yna.co.kr
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