Poll Shows Ruling Party Winning in 7 Out of 10 Constituencies


By Shim Jae-yun
Staff Reporter
Candidates of the pro-government Uri Party are leading their competitors by large margins in key electoral battlefields across the country.

An opinion poll conducted by The Korea Times and Media Research of 10 key constituencies shows Uri Party candidates leading in seven and the majority opposition Grand National Party (GNP) leading in two, while the Democratic Liberal Party (DLP) holds sway in one key district.

The minor opposition Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) was out of the picture.

Uri Party candidates led in constituencies in Seoul, Puchon, Taejon and in Cholla Province. The party also came in first in the Yongdo constituency in Pusan.

The GNP maintained the upper hand over the Uri Party in Susong A, Taegu, district and Pohang Nam-Ulnung district, recovering its approval rating with Park Geun-hye, hailing from Taegu, taking over as party chairwoman at a national convention March 23.

The GNP’s candidates are faring poorly even in the party’s traditional strongholds in Pusan and South Kyongsang Province. But respondents gave relatively high marks for its candidates in terms of their chances of victory and aptitude.

Rep. Chu Mi-ae, leader of the MDP, garnered a 19.7 percent approval rating compared with 39.2 percent for the Uri Party’s Kim Heong-joo in Kwangjin B district of Seoul. But she scored 44.7 percent for character fitness and 44.9 percent for her victory possibility, edging past Kim who earned 13.1 percent and 31.8 percent, respectively.

The Uri Party’s Kim Choon-jin got a 28.4 percent support, outmaneuvering MDP stalwart Chung Kyun-hwan who earned 17.1 percent in Kochang-Puan district in North Cholla Province.

The GNP’s Kim Moon-soo earned 35.3 percent in a tight contest with the Uri Party’s Kim Man-soo, a former associate of President Roh Moo-hyun, who got 39.7 percent in Puchon-Sosa district in Kyonggi Province.

Kim, who acted as chief candidacy nominator of the opposition party, maintained the upper hand over the Uri Party candidate in terms of his chances of victory and capability.

In the constituencies of Yongdo constituency in Pusan, which has traditionally been the GNP’s turf, the Uri Party’s Kim Jung-kil recorded 44.5 percent approval rating while rival Kim Hyong-oh of the GNP registered 23.5 percent.

This is a stark contrast with the survey conducted by the daily Joongang Ilbo on March 10, which showed the Uri Party candidate lagged far behind Kim.

Former GNP floor leader Rep. Hong Sa-duck chalked up only 25.7 percent, behind the 47.9 percent for the Uri Party’s Han Myong-sook, who formerly served as environment minister, in Koyang-Ilsan A in Kyonggi Province. The MDP’s Park Tae-woo got only 3.1 percent.

In the district of Kohung-Posung in South Cholla Province, which had been MDP territory, MDP candidate Park Sang-cheon registered 25.7 percent compared with 35.1 percent for Shin Jung-sik of the Uri Party.

The Democratic Labor Party’s Kwon Young-ghil earned 45.0 percent support in Changwon B district in South Kyongsang Province, beating the GNP’s Lee Ju-young and the Uri Party’s Park Moo-yong, who received 21.5 percent and 17.4 percent approval, respectively.

In regards to the favored political parties in accordance with the introduction of the proportional representation system, the Uri Party came out at front in all 10 of the key constituencies with approval rates between 36.6 percent and 67.8 percent. The GNP came in second in all areas except for the Cholla provinces where the MDP grasped second place.

The former-ruling MDP marked fourth in four areas _ Seoul, Pusan, Kyonggi and South Kyongsang provinces _ trailing behind the pro-labor Democratic Liberal Party.

The survey was carried out on 500 voters with a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.

The Korea Broadcasting System reported March 20 that Uri Party candidates topped the list in opinion polls in 20 major districts in Seoul.

jayshim@koreatimes.co.kr