Hong Joon-pyo, the mayor of Daegu, stated on February 3rd that “sham public opinion polling companies should be expelled from the industry by disclosing the status of national public opinion polls.” He expressed this view on social media, alleging that there is a corrupt cartel within polling organizations conspiring with political powers. Hong noted that every administration has conducted national public opinion surveys, with some specific polling companies monopolizing these contracts worth billions of won conducted by various state agencies such as the Blue House, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the National Intelligence Service, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Hong further mentioned that during the Lee Myung-bak administration, a company he referred to as “Company A” maintained a close relationship right before taking office and held a monopoly on contracts worth hundreds of billions. However, former President Park Geun-hye, after experiencing losses during the primaries, completely excluded that polling firm once she assumed power. Additionally, Hong claimed that during the impeachment presidential election, Company A fully transformed into a polling organization for Moon Jae-in, monopolizing national polls during his five-year term.