40% of public say People Power Party was true winner despite Democratic Party's 12-4 sweep of regional races

The Democratic Party of Korea won 12 of the regional governorship seats in the June 3 local elections, far outpacing the People Power Party's four — yet four in 10 South Koreans named the PPP the true winner of the vote, according to a poll released Thursday.

The survey, conducted by Media Tomato on behalf of News Tomato on June 8 and 9, found that 40.3 percent of respondents identified the PPP as the real winner of the local elections, while 34.3 percent chose the Democratic Party — a difference within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 3.0 percentage points. Among self-described centrists, the PPP also led, at 37.1 percent versus 31.5 percent for the Democratic Party.

Asked who was the biggest loser of the election, respondents ranked PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok first at 30.3 percent and Democratic Party leader Jung Chung-rae second at 25.6 percent. Notably, supporters of both parties turned on their own leaders. Among Democratic Party supporters, 34.7 percent named Jung the biggest loser — the highest share in that group — while 41.2 percent of PPP supporters pointed to Jang, also the top response within that camp.

In a hypothetical three-way race for the Democratic Party leadership ahead of the party convention set for August, Prime Minister Kim Min-seok led at 24.0 percent, followed by Jung — widely expected to seek a second term — at 18.4 percent, and Rep. Song Young-gil at 15.8 percent. Among the Democratic Party's core supporters, Kim held a commanding lead at 40.1 percent, while Song (24.0 percent) and Jung (22.9 percent) were locked in a statistical tie for second.

On party approval ratings, the ruling Democratic Party slipped 1.4 percentage points from three weeks earlier to 42.9 percent, while the PPP climbed 4.4 percentage points to 34.7 percent, narrowing the gap to 8.2 percentage points. President Lee Jae Myung's job approval fell 5.2 percentage points from the previous survey to 54.0 percent, with a disapproval rating of 40.9 percent.

The poll surveyed 1,036 adults aged 18 and older nationwide using an automated response system on mobile phones. The response rate was 2.7 percent, and the margin of error is plus or minus 3.0 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level. Further details are available on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.