» Chung Sye-kyun, the chairperson of the Democratic Party, second from the right, and Lee Hoi-chang, the chairperson of the Liberty Forward Party, second from the left, shake hands before discussing the withdrawal of Chung Un-chan’s nomination as prime minister at the National Assembly, Sept. 27.

Survey results show that more than half the population believes Chung Un-chan is not fit to serve as prime minister.

On Saturday, immediately after the National Assembly confirmation hearing procedures came to an end, the Hankyoreh commissioned Research Plus, a private research firm, to conduct a public opinion survey. The results show that 58.3 percent of those polled hold a negative view on Chung’s ability to perform the duties of a Prime Minster, citing tax evasion and other ethical issues. In contrast, a mere 35.6 agree “the issues that were raised during the hearing are not enough to signal shortcomings in performing the duties of a Prime Minister.”

Regarding other actions by ministerial candidates that also came to light during confirmation hearings, including the falsification of residential registration in order to send their children to schools in other districts and underreporting real estate property values, some 66.9 percent of those surveyed responded that such actions make candidates unfit to perform the duties of public office, while 32.6 percent answered that they present no problem to perform the duties of public office because they are not perceived as crimes but instead actions committed in the past.

Support ratings for President Lee Myung-bak’s governance are at 45.3 percent, a 16-point increase from the 29.3 percent recorded in a July 25 survey. The Grand National Party (GNP) holds the highest support ratings among political parties, at 34.4 percent, followed by the Democratic Party (DP) at 25.0 percent, the pro-Park Geun-hye alliance at 5.0 percent, the Democratic Labor Party at 3.6 percent, the Liberty Forward Party at 2.5 percent, the New Progressive Party at 2.1 percent and the Renewal of Korea Party at 1.8 percent. Another 25.6 percent of respondents declined to answer, said they did not know, or answered that they did not support any political party.

With regards to the Four Major Rivers Restoration project currently being pushed by the Lee administration at a cost of 22 trillion Won, 30.7 percent of those polled answered that the project should continue in its present form. In contrast, 67.4 percent answered that the project should be postponed or stopped entirely. Of this number, 37.5 percent say, “Until public support is secured, there is no need to rush the project,” and 29.9 percent agree, “it should be stopped immediately because it is no different from the ‘Grand Korean Waterway’ project.”

Opinions are divided regarding the Sejong City development project. Of those who responded, 30.7 percent agree that it should be pursued according to the original plan, another 11.7 percent agree that the project should be expanded in scale, 27.5 percent agree that the project should be reduced in scale, and 19.2 percent say the construction should be stopped.

Meanwhile, South Korean citizens favor amending the Constitution, and most of those surveyed preferred a four-year presidential system with the possibility of reelection. Some 58.3 percent of respondents agree that there is a need to amend the Constitution and they outnumber the 36.0 percent who say there is no need to amend the Constitution.

Among those who favor amendment, the results show an “emotional” agreement with the idea of simply amending the Constitution. In other words, 34.5 percent agree, “The five-year, single-term system is okay, but I agree with amending the Constitution.” On the same item, 23.8 percent favor amendment “because there are many problems with the current five-year, single-term system.” High rates of agreement with amendment were seen in both the GNP and DP support base, with 68.9 percent and 49.3 percent respectively in favor.

On a survey item about reforming the presidential power structure, more than twice as many favor a four-year presidential system with the possibility of reelection, 50.8 percent, than a decentralized form of presidential system, 20.9 percent. While a Constitutional research advisory council under the National Assembly Speaker recently recommended a decentralized system as a preferable plan for the power structure, these survey results indicate a trend in another direction.

Also conspicuous in these survey results was a high rate of preference for a four-year system with possible reelection among the GNP support base. Some 61.3 percent of respondents from that base preferred the four-year system, compared to just 44.0 percent among DP supporters. There are low rates of agreement regarding a Cabinet system, 14.9 percent, and the continuation of the current five-year, single-term system, 3.4 percent.　

The phone survey results are taken from a nationwide sample of 700 adults, 19 years of age or older, and the response rate was 16.2 percent. The results indicate a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percent at a confidence level of 95 percent.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]