While it is known that President Yoon Seok-yeol is contemplating ahead of the ‘August 15 Liberation Day special envoy’, former President Lee Myung-bak and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong’s pardon opinions are starkly different. This is because, in various opinion polls, support for a pardon for Vice Chairman Lee is overwhelmingly high, but only the results of opinion polls suggesting that the opposition to the amnesty prevails against former President Lee.
While there is widespread public opinion that private companies such as Samsung Electronics should be empowered during the economic crisis, the amnesty of former President Lee, who was imprisoned for bribery and embezzlement during difficult times, is difficult to tolerate.
Lee Jae-yong’s pardon is 6-7 to 3 ‘support advantage’
Opinion poll ‘0’ for people who favor pardon Lee Myung-bak
According to recent political circles, President Yoon is said to be contemplating amnesty for former President Lee and Vice Chairman Lee. President Yoon said on the 22nd that he was avoiding an immediate answer, but said on the 22nd that he would consider the current public sentiment carefully while going forward-looking. As President Yoon has been referring to former President Lee’s pardon since his days as a presidential candidate, it is an observation from inside and outside the political circles that the amnesty is powerful.
In recent various opinion polls, President Yoon’s negative evaluation is on the rise, and a ‘reversal card’ is needed. There is also an expectation that the amnesty of Vice Chairman Lee during the economic crisis will have a positive effect on public sentiment. As for Vice Chairman Lee, who is talking about the lottery, the majority of votes in favor of it are in the 6-7 to 3 ratio. According to an R&Search poll on the 20th, when asked about Vice Chairman Lee’s special amnesty, 68% of respondents said yes, more than double the number of 28.4% against. The opinion in favor of Vice Chairman Lee took precedence, with 64.4% vs. 27% in the Juju Daily Survey, and 65% vs. 29.8% in Media Tomato.
However, in the case of former President Lee, where amnesty is being discussed, there are no public opinion polls showing that support for amnesty prevails. In a public opinion poll by the Korea Social Opinion Institute (KSOI) and the Media Tomato poll, the 6 to 3 ratio was twice as high as the denial of amnesty against the former president. Until June, such as in Gallup Korea, negative public opinion was slightly high at a ratio of 5 to 4, but recently, negative public opinion is growing.
In both the Media Tomato and KSOI polls, the opposition to amnesty by former President Lee was twice as high as in favor of all age groups except those in their 60s. All of these age groups are recently withdrawing their approval ratings for President Yoon.
In particular, if we compare the previous survey conducted by the KSOI in April with the recent survey, it is clear how negative public opinion about the former president’s amnesty is worsening. While the negative public opinion by age has risen slightly over the past three months, the number of negative public opinion in their 50s has increased significantly. In addition, in Yeongnam, a conservative garden, there have been recent changes, such as negative public opinion prevailing, and by occupation, except for agriculture/forestry/fishery and students, the number of negative votes has increased.
Shin Yul, a professor of political science and diplomacy at Myongji University, said, “Considering the economic crisis, the lottery seems reasonable for Vice Chairman Lee, but the rebound in approval ratings will be limited.” said “I don’t see any urgent reason to pardon Lee right away given the current declining approval ratings,” he said. It will not be too late to discuss the amnesty later.”
Shin Hyun-bo, reporter at Hankyung.com [email protected]