The United Future Party (UFP), South Korea's leading opposition group, has overtaken the ruling Democratic Party (DP) in polls conducted by the Realmeter agency for the first time in four years, according to a fresh survey cited by the country's Yonhap news agency, with the latest dynamic blamed on the government's failure to control rising housing prices
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th August, 2020) The United Future Party (UFP), South Korea's leading opposition group, has overtaken the ruling Democratic Party (DP) in polls conducted by the Realmeter agency for the first time in four years, according to a fresh survey cited by the country's Yonhap news agency, with the latest dynamic blamed on the government's failure to control rising housing prices.
Support for the UFP has risen by 1.9 percentage points to 36.5 percent according to a three-day poll that concluded on Wednesday. The DP's approval has fallen by 1.7 percentage points to 33.4 percent, with the poll's margin of error listed at plus/minus 2.5 percent, the agency said, citing the Realmeter poll.
"Public opinion against the real estate policy has worsened," the agency cited a Realmeter official as saying.
UFP now holds its first lead in the polls since 2016, when public opinion turned against then-President Park Geun-hye prior to her impeachment, the agency said.
In late July, the Bank of Korea announced that the aggregate market price of houses in South Korea had risen 7.4 percent year-on-year in 2019, the Korea Herald reported.
The South Korean government has attempted to reverse the rising trends by increasing property ownership tax rates for multiple house owners. The government is also looking to force those who borrow money to buy a house in regulated areas, which includes Seoul, to move into the property within six months.
