President Lee Jae Myung waits for the start of a senior secretaries meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung waits for the start of a senior secretaries meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday. [Yonhap]

A poll released Thursday found that opposition to a constitutional reform changing the presidential term to a four-year renewable or two-term system narrowly outpaced support, though the gap fell within the margin of error.

Realmeter conducted the survey on behalf of the Energy Economy Newspaper on Tuesday and Wednesday among 1,017 adults aged 18 and older nationwide. It found 50.9% opposed amending the constitution to introduce a four-year renewable or two-term presidency, while 46.0% were in favor. Another 3.1% said they did not know.

Support varied sharply by region. In South Jeolla Province, Gwangju and North Jeolla Province, 64.0% backed the change against 35.2% opposed. In Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, however, 61.3% were opposed and only 36.6% in favor.

In Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, opposition led 50.6% to 47.3%, while in Daejeon, Sejong and the Chungcheong provinces, 49.0% were opposed against 45.3% in favor.

By age group, respondents aged 18 to 19 were strongly opposed, with 68.7% against and only 27.7% in favor. Those in their 30s also leaned against the change, at 58.3% opposed and 37.0% in favor.

Respondents in their 40s, 50s and 60s all showed majority support — 54.2%, 53.1% and 54.1%, respectively — while opposition ran at 45.1%, 45.8% and 41.9% in those groups. Among those aged 70 and older, opposition edged out support 49.9% to 45.4%, a gap of 4.5 percentage points.

A separate question asked whether the current president's term should be cut short to hold an early presidential election, aligning future presidential and general election cycles. On that proposal, 48.5% were opposed and 43.6% in favor.

Opposition was even stronger on the question of whether any constitutional changes to the presidential term should apply to the sitting president, allowing a re-run candidacy. Some 61.7% opposed the idea, compared with 34.7% in favor — a gap of 27.0 percentage points.

The survey used automated random digit dialing with a 100% wireless random sampling frame. The response rate was 3.7%, and the margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.


quq@heraldcorp.com