April 27, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] The number of voters who view themselves as politically liberal have outnumbered conservatives for the first time in Korea, according to data by Business Herald.

According to an analysis by Herald Business, a sister paper of The Korea Herald, liberals outnumbered conservatives in Realmeter’s weekly poll for the first time in the first week of November, shortly after President Park Geun-hye’s scandal erupted in late October. 

Some 23.28 percent of respondents identified their political inclination as liberal, compared to 21.84 percent who called themselves conservative. The liberal lead widened to 24.60 versus 19.96 by the second week of this month, the data showed. 

“It is the first time that progressive voters have surpassed conservative minds,” said Kwon Soon-jeong, the head of survey analysis department in Realmeter. “After nine years of a conservative administration, a sense of fatigue seems to be widespread in the public, leading to a change in their ideological dispositions.” 

The analysis looked into poll findings over 20 weeks starting from the second week of August. 

Before the turning point in November, more people identified as a conservative voter, at one point conservatives held a 6.6 percentage point lead over liberal voters. The difference slowly declined in September when suspicions started to arise over the president and her confidante Choi Soon-sil. 

Park is suspected of allowing her close friend Choi to meddle in state affairs and colluding with her to extort funds from conglomerates. Park was impeached by the National Assembly on Dec. 9, and her fate awaits a final decision by the Constitutional Court. 

The approval rating of political parties have also witnessed a shakeup. The ruling conservative Saenuri Party, which was on top in the polls has ceded its rank to the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea. As of Dec. 26, the Democratic Party’s approval rating stands at 36.1 percent, with 19.2 percent of respondents supporting Saenuri.

Among them are voters who decided not to support any parties. While 15 to 19 percent of voters said that they do not lean towards a particular political party in the third week of October, the number hit a record high of 24.1 percent in the first week of December. 

The shifting public sentiment is changing the nation’s political landscape. Parties are busy trying to win over the wavering voters. Some 30 members of the ruling Saenuri Party left the party on Dec. 27, vowing to create a new conservative party that will seek for more liberal economic policies. 

By Jo He-rim/The Korea Herald (herim@heraldcorp.com)