The Rebuilding Korea Party's approval rating has risen above 9% for the first time since the Lee Jae-myung administration took office. Analysts attribute the gain to the party's hard-line reform stance, including its push to impeach Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de, which has resonated with progressive voters. The Democratic Party of Korea, which has focused on expanding its appeal to moderates, now faces a dilemma between a backlash from centrist voters and defections from its traditional base.
A survey conducted by Media Tomato for News Tomato and released on the 22nd put support for the Rebuilding Korea Party at 9.0%, up 1.6 percentage points from two weeks earlier. The Democratic Party fell 0.8 percentage points to 36.2%, while the People Power Party slipped 0.4 percentage points to 37.2%. Among self-identified progressives, support for the Rebuilding Korea Party jumped 7.0 percentage points to 17.8%.
Analysts said traditional Democratic Party supporters disappointed by the party's recent course are turning to the Rebuilding Korea Party. The central flashpoint is the move to impeach the chief justice. The Rebuilding Korea Party has drafted an impeachment motion and is calling on the Democratic Party to pursue it jointly, but the Democratic Party is leaning toward a parliamentary investigation instead, weighing the likelihood that an impeachment would be dismissed and the risk of alienating moderate voters. Kim Joon-hyung, the Rebuilding Korea Party's floor leader, said of the rise in support that it appeared to reflect "a windfall from the Democratic Party."
For the Democratic Party, the political burden is mounting as its strategy of courting moderates under the banner of a "structural majority" has yet to produce clear results, while concerns grow about losing its existing base. An official in the governing camp said the party "has been losing the identity that makes it the Democratic Party while concentrating on expanding toward the center," adding that "the party is becoming less appealing even to its existing supporters."