Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon has emerged as the most suitable candidate for the next presidency, overtaking Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, according to a poll released on the 23rd.
The survey was conducted by Zowon C&I at the request of Straight News from the 19th to the 21st among 2,007 men and women aged 18 or older nationwide. Han led with 18.1%, followed by Kim at 14.8%, Oh at 12.6% and People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk at 11.9%. In the previous survey, Kim had led with 16% against Han's 15.4%, reversing the order.
Han, though an independent, also outpolled Oh and Jang among People Power Party supporters. He drew 29.2%, jumping from third place in the previous survey to the top, ahead of Jang at 26.7% and Oh at 24%. Analysts said resistance to Han among the party's supporters has eased after he led the attack on the government during the recent confirmation hearings.
Han also ranked highest among unaffiliated voters at 27%. Oh drew 10.1% and Kim 8.9%. Among Democratic Party supporters, Kim led with 30.5%, followed by Cho Kuk, head of the Rebuilding Korea Party's policy research institute, at 14.6% and Democratic Party lawmaker Jung Chung-rae at 11.1%. Han registered 5.9%.
Asked about the results in a radio interview, Han said, "I think it is because a commonsensical majority of the public wants someone who can defeat the outrages of the Lee Jae-myung administration."
While Han's political presence is growing, the People Power Party remains divided over whether to let him rejoin. Party lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun argued that "the party leadership should embrace him in a broad-minded way." Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won, by contrast, drew a line, saying that "fighting well and rejoining the party are separate matters."
