Main opposition regains its edge in party affiliation: Gallup Korea

Gallup Korea denies accusations that it fails to prevent overly sampling right-leaning respondents.

Ruling People Power Party interim leader Rep. Kwon Young-se (left) and main opposition Democratic Party of Korea Chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung send Lunar New Year greetings to people in Seoul ahead of a weeklong Seollal holiday. (Yonhap)

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea regained its edge over the ruling People Power Party in terms of political party preferences, reflecting shifting public sentiment following the martial law declaration by conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol and his subsequent arrest.

According to poll results released by Gallup Korea on Friday, 40 percent of 1,000 respondents identified as supporters of the liberal Democratic Party in the survey conducted from Tuesday to Thursday.

On the other hand, 38 percent of respondents supported the ruling conservative People Power Party.

This is a quick reversal of results, as an earlier Gallup Korea weekly poll indicated on Jan. 17 that those who identified as ruling party supporters came to 39 percent, having an edge over the opposition party for the first time in nearly five months. About 36 percent identified as supporters of the Democratic Party.

In the third week of December -- immediately after a motion to impeach Yoon passed -- support for the liberal Democratic Party hit its highest point of 48 percent since Yoon's inauguration in May 2022. The figure was 24 percentage points ahead of the ruling People Power Party.

But according to Gallup Korea, President Yoon and his party's repeated talking points have contributed to the rise in the ruling party's popularity.

"The trend over the popularity of major parties is visibly different from the impeachment turmoil eight years before," Gallup Korea said in a statement.

Before Friday's Gallup Korea poll, most polls throughout the week indicated conservative party supporters outsized liberal party supporters.

For example, a poll by Kstat Research released Friday showed the number of those who considered themselves supporters of the conservative party were ahead of those supporting the liberal party by 8 percentage points. A separate poll released Thursday jointly by four pollsters including Kstat Research also indicated that ruling party supporters outnumbered those supporting the liberal main opposition party by 2 percentage points.

In a rare gesture, Gallup Korea expressed its stance Friday on the main opposition party's criticism of pollsters' public opinion polling methodology. The Democratic Party has accused the pollsters of overly sampling right-leaning respondents.

Gallup Korea acknowledged that certain demographics tend to participate more in telephoned surveys, but it has strived to collect balanced samples by attempting multiple calls throughout the day.

Gallup Korea added the accusations by the political party "require caution, as (these) can encourage misinterpretation by reversing cause and effect without scientific grounds."