Did the interim leader of the People Power Party, Han Dong Hoon, receive an approval rating of 51 percent in recent national polls? No, that's not true: The candidate suitability approval rating between Han and the Democratic Party leader Lee Jae Myung was tied at 36 percent in national surveys as of February 19, 2024. Bilateral confrontation national polls showed Han at 42 percent and Lee at 36 percent at the time of writing.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok by @ggambbang4865 on February 14, 2024. The caption (translated from Korean to English by Lead Stories staff) read:
News flash. Shocking public opinion.
Han Dong Hoon 51%. Lee Jae Myung 37%.
People Power Party 41%. Democratic Party 30%.
New Reform Party 5-8%.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Thu Feb 15 16:41:54 2024 UTC)
Lead Stories found no evidence that Han's approval rating surpassed 50 percent nationwide, except in specific demographic polls conducted by various news outlets.
In a poll conducted for Yonhap News (archived here) in cooperation with the Matrix polling firm, published on January 10, 2024, Lee's and Han's candidate suitability ratings were calculated at 36 percent each. By age group, Lee had the highest approval rating from those in their 40s and 50s, at 53 percent and 42 percent, respectively, compared to Han's 16 percent and 37 percent. However, Han had the highest approval rating among those in their 60s and 70s, with 54 percent and 61 percent, respectively, compared to Lee's 29 percent and 21 percent.
A National Index Survey (NBS) published by the website The Public (archived here) on February 8, 2024, reported that political party support was 37 percent for the People Power Party and 30 percent for the Democratic Party. The People Power Party is up 4 percentage points from the previous poll, and the Democratic Party is tied. According to the survey, the approval rating of President Yoon Suk-yeol of the People's Power Party rose to 37 percent. The article also reported that 51 percent of people born in the 1960s agreed with Han's position of disbanding the pro-democracy movements, while 58 percent agreed with Lee's position of reforming the legal system to keep prosecutors more in check.
