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Park Geun-hye, chairwoman of the opposition Grand National Party, campaigning in Kwangju on May 18 , two days before she was assaulted in Seoul. Kwangju /Kim Jong-soo.
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Survey puts opposition party approval at more than 70%
According to a survey conducted May 18-21 of 800 eligible voters, candidates from the Grand National Party (GNP) ranked first in approval ratings in 162 of 230 voting districts, holding about 70 percent of the districts. The local elections are scheduled for May 31; governors, city mayors, heads of autonomous administrative units, and members of local councils will be chosen.
The GNP fared strong in most of Seoul, Gyeonggi province, Incheon, and Daejeon, as well as Gangwon and Gyeongsang provinces, the latter two traditional strongholds of the party.
The party’s candidates had a more than 10-percent lead in 145 districts, and in 114 districts GNP candidates outperformed their runners-up by more than 20 percent.
By contrast, the ruling Uri Party is charting a poor performance, the survey showed. The party's candidates gained the highest approval ratings in only 23 voting districts, and its approval ratings bested those of rival candidates by more than 10 percent in only nine districts. The minor opposition Democratic Party came in first in a total of 16 districts. Party candidates outperformed runners-up by more than 10 percent in 12 districts, the survey showed.
