Pres. Yoon reportedly reveals deep-seated distrust of polling data

A key ruling party official close to President Yoon Suk Yeol disclosed that President Yoon recently made this remark about opinion polls, reflecting his deep-seated distrust of polling data.

Observers suggest that the deployment of martial law troops to constitutional institutions like the National Assembly and the National Election Commission on Tuesday night, as well as the focus on the opinion polling company "Kkot," linked to Kim Eo-jun, a broadcaster who hosts the opposition-leaning YouTube, mirrors President Yoon’s conviction about election fraud and opinion manipulation. This belief appears to have intensified following the spread of election fraud allegations in conservative YouTube channels and groups after the ruling party’s loss in this year’s general election.

The martial law decree itself reinforces these suspicions. Articles 1 and 2 prohibit "all political activities, including those of the National Assembly," and "fake news, opinion manipulation, and false instigation." Under this pretext, about 300 soldiers from the Special Forces Command and Counterintelligence Command were sent as martial law troops to the National Election Commission offices in Gwacheon, Gwanak, and Suwon.

Ruling party insiders have also highlighted President Yoon’s long-standing preoccupation with election fraud claims. A party official familiar with the 20th presidential election stated, "President Yoon was captivated by arguments from those who claimed he had won the election by a wider margin than 0.73 percentage points." When confronted with evidence disproving these claims, he reportedly reacted with cold dismissiveness. The same official recalled further instances of this belief, noting that after the 2020 general elections, some YouTubers alleged high-ranking Democratic Party officials had studied election fraud techniques and employed Chinese hackers to manipulate early voting and President Yoon was said to have taken these accusations seriously.


Hyung-Jun Hwang constant25@donga.com