Inter-Korean summit, FTA to be top election issues
Chosun-Ilbo, Korea
Inter-Korean Summit, FTA To Be Top Election Issues
22 March 2007
Public opinion and political analysts say that an inter-Korean summit and the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement will be the biggest issues during the presidential elections this year.
While these issues have not yet become of major public concern, once they float to the surface they will have a big impact on voters. And a poll of 731 Koreans by Gallup Korea on March 3 points to the FTA as having more influence on voters than the summit meeting.
◆ The Korea-U.S. free trade agreement
According to the poll, there is more public support for the Korea-U.S. FTA (56.7 percent) than opposition (35.1 percent). Opinions corresponded closely to occupations. People engaged in farming and fishing opposed the trade pact, while those who were self-employed or in blue-collar jobs supported it. Support and opposition was about equal among white-collars workers.
Among respondents who back former Seoul mayor Lee Myung-bak and former Grand National Party chairwoman Park Geun-hye, support for the trade pact was 58 percent.
Of those who back former Gyeonggi Province governor Sohn Hak-kyu, 62 percent support the FTA but among supporters of other candidates of the ruling camp, 47 percent support the FTA while 43 percent oppose it.
When asked how they would respond if their candidate held a differing opinion on the trade pact, a similar number of respondents said they would still support that candidate (45.4 percent) as those who said they would change candidates (40 percent). That means four out of 10 respondents said they would change their candidates according to their opinion on the FTA.
◆ Inter-Korean Summit
When asked how they felt about the inter-Korean summit within President Roh’s term of office, those who opposed the idea (60.3 percent) outnumbered those who supported it (28.4 percent). Among backers of former Seoul mayor Lee and former GNP chairwoman Park opposition was 68 percent. Among those backing former Gyeonggi Province governor Sohn opposition (45 percent) outnumbered support (39 percent) but among supporters of other candidates of the ruling camp, support (49 percent) outnumbered opposition (41 percent).
When asked how they would respond if their candidate had a differing opinion on the summit, 60.2 percent said they would still support that candidate and 26.5 percent said they would change candidates.
◆ Summit could come to the forefront
Analysts say that the North American Free Trade Agreement was a big factor in elections in America, Canada and Mexico, and that in Korea those candidates who can persuade voters of differing opinions will be successful.
Kim Youn-jae, a lawyer and political consultant, said that with many supporters of President Roh opposed to the Korea-U.S. FTA, it has become the biggest factor dividing the ruling camp, and because the issue is so divisive the opposition party presidential hopefuls would rather keep quiet on it.
Korea Society Opinion Institute official Han Gui-young, however, said that issues affecting the Korean Peninsula like the summit are normally of relatively less public concern but they have the power to blow up instantly, and the top election issue could easily shift from economics to peace on the Peninsula.
