hankyoreh

Public opinion polls on Constitutional Amendment and Candlelight Revolution (Unit: %)

Over three times as many South Koreans think the Constitution needs to be amended as do not, a recent opinion poll shows. On the question of when the amendment should happen, nearly half of respondents said it should take place during the next presidency.

In a public opinion poll of 1,006 adults nationwide commissioned by the Hankyoreh and carried out by Research Plus on Dec. 28 and Dec. 29, 66.6% of respondents agreed the Constitution should be amended, while just 20.8% said an amendment was unnecessary. The remaining 12.6% said they did not know or gave no response.

By age group, those aged 60 and older gave the highest rate of responses in favor of amendment at 70.2%, compared to 12.3% calling an amendment unnecessary. Those aged 30-39 and 20-29 also supported an amendment at rates above the average at 56.7% (versus 29.6% seeing an amendment as unnecessary) and 63.5% (21% unnecessary), respectively.

The findings appeared consistent with relatively low support for amendment of the Constitution by supporters of the opposition Minjoo Party and its former leader Moon Jae-in. Supporters of an amendment accounted for 60.4% of Minjoo Party supporters, but 63.1% of Saenuri Party supporters, 75.1% of People‘s Party supporters, and 78.9% of supporters for the newly formed Saenuri Party breakaway party tentatively named the New Conservative Party for Reform.

When asked when an amendment should happen, 48.5% of respondents said it should be included as part of candidate pledges in this year’s presidential election and take place within the term of whoever is elected. Another 32.4% said the amendment should happen before the election, while 11.2% said it should put off until after the next presidency. 7.9% of respondents said they did not know or gave no answer.

By generation, respondents in their 30s and 40s were less enthusiastic about amending the Constitution before the election, while those 50 and over showed more active support. Rates of response in favor an amendment before the election were below average at 18.9% for those aged 30-39 and 26.5% for those aged 40-49, but above the average at 45.5% for those aged 50-59 and 36.4% for those aged 60 and older.

Saenuri Party supporters were roughly equal in their support for amendment before the election or during the next presidency at 37.8% and 34.9%, respectively. Among Minjoo Party supporters, support for amendment during the next presidency stood at 62.5%, over three times the 20.7% supporting pre-election amendment. Similarly, 65.0% of Moon Jae-in supporters favored an amendment during the next presidency compared to just 18.4% favoring pre-election amendment. Conversely, supporters of former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon leaned more strongly toward pre-election amendment than amendment during the next presidency by a margin of 44.6% to 38.5%. The findings suggest even those who view amendment as necessary are making strategic decisions on the specific date according to their preferred party and candidate.

By Seok Jin-hwan, staff reporter

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