[Public Opinion Briefing] The 19th Presidential Election and Regionalism

2017 EAI Presidential Election 2nd Public Opinion Survey

■ The 19th presidential election can be assessed as having produced a president who received relatively balanced support nationwide compared to previous presidential elections, indicating a weakening of regional voting patterns.

■ Although regionalism in the Yeongnam region shows a tendency to weaken, the regional voting behavior in Honam still concentrates votes on progressive party candidates, suggesting that the weakening of regionalism was only observed in some regions.

■ The ideological and regional differences between conservatives and Yeongnam, and progressives and Honam, are increasingly likely to weaken, and regionalism stemming from these differences is expected to diminish gradually. While ideological differences between the two regions persist in foreign policy and national security, there are no significant differences in areas such as the economy and national tasks, suggesting that regional consensus on foreign and security issues could lead to a gradual weakening of regionalism based on ideology.

■ Perhaps due to this trend, 74.7% of respondents assessed that regionalism weakened in this presidential election, while only 24.2% believed it had not weakened, indicating that the majority of the public perceived a weakening of regionalism in this election.

■ Regionalism has operated as a major political cleavage in Korean politics, evolving over the long term as an important factor in elections through its interaction with region, political identity, party identity, and ideology. However, it is increasingly showing a tendency to be influenced by short-term factors in voting, such as economic conditions, candidates, specific issues, and televised debates, suggesting a high likelihood of regionalism weakening in the long run. (...continued)