Poll: President Roh Is Wrongfully Managing State Affairs

After the Constitutional Court’s decision finding the special law on the new administrative capital construction as unconstitutional, it is found that only one out of 10 people agree with the alternative plan to relocate all administrative offices, excluding the Cheong Wa Dae and the National Assembly.

Dong-A Ilbo asked the Korea Research Center (KRC), a professional survey institution, to conduct a phone poll surveying 1,000 adults nationwide on Saturday. According to the poll, “Induce and invest in an industrial city” was the most popular alternative to the capital relocation plan with 29 percent, followed by “Relocating only a part of the administrative offices” (23.3 percent), “Not necessary. Opposed to any kind of plans” (18.0 percent), “Building an educational city” (13.6 percent), “Relocating all administrative offices, excluding Cheong Wa Dae and the National Assembly” (10.9 percent). Also, concerning the reform policy of President Roh Moo-hyun and the current administration, 53.7 percent replied “I do not support this,” higher than the reply of “I support this” (41.7).

The number of respondents who said President Roh was “Not doing it correctly” in regards to managing state affairs was 64.4 percent, while the opinion that the government was “Not doing it correctly” in regards to managing state affairs was 77.1 percent, higher than that of the president. The margin of error of this poll is ±3.1 percentage points out of a 95 percent confidence level.

Ho-Won Choi bestiger@donga.com