During the official campaign period for the 21st presidential election, Lee Jun-seok, the presidential candidate of the Reform New Party, visited Yonsei University in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, where he had a meal with students and engaged in conversation. According to a survey conducted on the political awareness of 1,161 undergraduate students, Lee Jun-seok was the most supported candidate among students from Seoul National University, with 35.1% backing him. He was followed by Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party with 27.5%, Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party with 7.7%, and Kwon Young-guk of the Democratic Labor Party with 4.8%. The option “no preferred candidate” was chosen by 24.4% of respondents.
Nearly half of the male respondents (49.5%) supported Lee Jun-seok. In contrast, 43.5% of female respondents favored Lee Jae-myung. The main reason cited by 78% of Lee Jun-seok’s supporters was his policies and direction. Other reasons included political ideology (16.3%), the candidate’s morality (about 2%), and experience (about 2%).
Professor Park Won-ho from Seoul National University’s Department of Political Science and Diplomacy noted that there is a demand among young voters for reformist conservative politicians, and in the absence of traditional politicians who meet this demand, many have turned to support Lee Jun-seok as an alternative.
The survey targeted the entire undergraduate student body, with 1,161 participants responding. Excluding those who did not disclose their gender or provided insincere responses, the results were based on 1,057 respondents.