Young people reject polarisation
January 27, 2025
SEOUL – Recent polls in South Korea have puzzled political pundits. In the days after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, Yoon’s popularity hit record lows as support for impeachment surged. The opposition Democratic Party of Korea’s support rose and its leader, Lee Jae-myung, was heads and shoulders above all possible opponents in an election to replace Yoon. Then, in late December, the trends started to reverse. What happened? And what does it mean?
A poll conducted in mid-January by Gallup Korea showed the ruling People Power Party taking the lead, for the first time since August 2024, with 39 percent support versus 36 percent for the Democratic Party. In the next presidential election, however, 48 percent want a Democratic Party candidate to win, while 40 percent want a People Power Party candidate to win, but the gap has narrowed considerably. Support for Yoon’s impeachment, once at nearly 75 percent, has fallen to 57 percent with 3 percent opposing.
The point of reversal corresponds with the impeachment of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. Han had refused to appoint three additional justices to the Constitutional Court that is charged with judging Yoon’s impeachment case. Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok became acting prime minister and therefore acting president. He agreed to appoint two more justices to the court, which has cooled threats of his impeachment for now.
Han’s impeachment and threats of continued impeachments raised fears of a possible government collapse, which nudged the public to search for stability. In the two previous presidential impeachments, Roh Moo-hyun in 2004 and Park Geun-hye in 2016, the prime minister became acting president and continued until the issue was