Gap narrows between ruling, main opposition parties ahead of local elections: poll

SEOUL, May 15 (Yonhap) -- The gap in the approval ratings for the ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) remains considerably wide, though it continued to narrow this week, a poll showed Friday, with less than three weeks left before the June 3 local elections. According to the survey conducted Tuesday through Thursday by Gallup Korea on 1,011 people aged 18 and older, support for the PPP rose 2 percentage points from the previous poll, conducted two weeks earlier, to 23 percent, while that for the ruling party dipped 1 percentage point to 45 percent over the cited period. The gap between the parties' approval ratings had reached as high as 30 percentage points at the start of last month, when the rating for the ruling party hit 48 percent, the highest since the Lee Jae Myung administration took office in June 2025, while that for the PPP fell to 18 percent. The gap has since narrowed to 28 percentage points in the fourth week of April, then further to 25 percentage points the following week and again to 22 percentage points this week. This composite file photo shows Democratic Party leader Rep. Jung Chung-rae (L) and People Power Party leader Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok. (Yonhap) In the latest survey, 44 percent of respondents said more DP candidates should be elected in next month's local elections, while 33 percent favored opposition candidates. The gap between those favoring DP candidates and PPP candidates had reached 17 percentage points in mid-April, before narrowing to 16 percentage points in late April and further down to 11 percentage points in the latest survey. The survey also showed stronger support for PPP candidates in the traditional conservative strongholds of Daegu and Busan. In Seoul, one of the closely watched battlegrounds in the June elections, respondents were evenly split, with 40 percent each saying DP candidates and PPP candidates should win. An earlier survey released Thursday showed incumbent Mayor Oh Se-hoon of the PPP and DP candidate Chong Won-o locked in a tight race in the Seoul mayoral election. The poll, conducted by the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI) and commissioned by radio broadcaster CBS, showed that the gap between the approval ratings of the two candidates has narrowed sharply from over 10 percentage points three weeks earlier. In the KSOI survey conducted earlier this week on 1,002 adults in Seoul, Chong garnered 44.9 percent support, compared with 39.8 percent for Oh. The surveys had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level. Up for grabs in the upcoming local elections are gubernatorial and mayoral posts, as well as seats for city councilors and education superintendents. Separately, voters in 14 constituencies will pick their new representatives in parliamentary by-elections. This undated file photo shows incumbent Mayor Oh Se-hoon (R) of the main opposition People Power Party, the party's candidate for the capital's mayoral race in the June 3 local elections, and ruling Democratic Party candidate Chong Won-o. (Yonhap) julesyi@yna.co.kr(END)