Seoul, Moon consensus collapses: the opposition sets sights on presidency

The decline is due to a real estate scandal involving members of the president's party. Former Attorney General Yoon Seok-youl, a Conservative, favoured to become the next president. Effective management of the pandemic is not enough for Democrats to maintain power.

Seoul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The consensus for President Moon Jae-in has collapsed to 34.1%, the lowest since taking office in 2017.

The data was revealed this morning in a survey by Realmeter which attributes the collapse to a real estate scandal involving members of Moon's Democratic Party.

The approval rating for the ruling party is also in free fall: The Democrats are at 28.1%, against 35.5% of the conservatives, the main opposition force. Dozens of government officials and some Democratic Party MPs are accused of speculating on the construction of public housing on the outskirts of the capital.

The case has boosted consensus for the Conservative bloc. His likely presidential candidate in March 2022, former Attorney General Yoon Seok-youl, would now be voted on by 39.1% of voters - a nearly 18 percentage point advantage over Lee Jae-myung, governor of Gyeonggi province, who would run for the Democrats.

Moon's effective management of the pandemic (who cannot be re-nominated for a second term) does not seem to be enough to keep the Democratic Party in power: so far the country has recorded 99,000 cases of contagion and about 1,700 deaths; the national vaccination campaign started at the end of February.

The housing scandal has already minimized the chances for Democrats to win the election for Seoul's new mayor, which will take place on April 7. In polls, both Conservative candidates outperform Democratic competitor Park Young-sun by about 15 percentage points.

• south korea
• seoul
• moon jae-in
• elections
• presidency
• mayor
• pandemic
• coronavirus
• vaccines
• covid-19
• conservative
• democratic party
• real estate scandal