hankyoreh

The Ministry of National Defense complex as seen on March 21. (Park Jong-shik/The Hankyoreh)

More than half of South Koreans are opposed to South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s plan to move the presidential office to Yongsan, a recent public opinion poll found.

Polling organization Media Tomato said Tuesday that when 1,018 Koreans aged 18 and above were asked on March 19-20 what they think about Yoon’s plan, 58.1% said the presidential office should remain at its current location in the Blue House. The poll, which was commissioned by media website News Tomato, had a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 points.

In addition, Yoon’s plan to move the presidential office had the support of 33.1% of respondents, while 8.7% said they were not sure.

“Strong opposition to moving the presidential office was evident in all regions aside from Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, a traditional stronghold for the conservative party. Opposition was particularly strong in Seoul, at 62.1%, which was the highest level in any region other than the Democratic Party’s stronghold of Gwangju and the Jeolla provinces,” Media Tomato reported.

There was also more opposition (59.7%) than support (28.5%) to the relocation plan among moderates.

When the same poll asked about the idea of pardoning former President Lee Myung-bak, which Yoon will reportedly propose to outgoing President Moon Jae-in, 53.2% of respondents expressed their opposition. The pardon received support from 38.2% of respondents, while 8.6% were unsure of their opinion.

A majority of respondents were opposed to pardoning Lee across all age groups except for those aged 60 and above.

The survey was conducted through robocalls to mobile phones using virtual phone numbers to ensure anonymity.

More details can be found on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.

By Lee Wan, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]