Seoul National University undergraduate students support Lee Jun-seok's Reform Party as 'top presidential candidate'

Ahead of the 21st presidential election, it was revealed that undergraduate students from Seoul National University showed the highest support for Lee Jun-seok, the candidate of the Reform Party at the time.

On the 9th, the university's newspaper, 'University News', announced these findings from the '2025 Survey of Political Awareness Among Seoul National University Undergraduates.'

The 'Survey of Political Awareness Among Seoul National University Undergraduates' is the eleventh survey conducted since 1985, and it was held for the first time in eight years since 2017.

The survey was conducted online from the 14th to the 20th of last month. It targeted the entire population of enrolled undergraduate students at Seoul National University, totaling 1,057 respondents.

Among 1,161 respondents, 1,057 were selected as the sample, leading to a margin of error of 95% and a confidence interval of ±3.01%.

The results were analyzed with the assistance of the Seoul National University Institute for Scientific Data Innovation, using 2025 undergraduate enrollment data provided by the academic affairs office. Weights (cell weights) were assigned based on gender, college, and student number to ensure that the sample more accurately represented the population.

Seoul National University undergraduates showed the highest level of support for Lee Jun-seok at 35.1%, followed by Lee Jae-myung at 27.5%, Kim Moon-soo of the People’s Power party at 7.7%, and Kwon Young-guk of the Democratic Labor Party at 4.8%.

Young voters wanting 'reform conservatism'… "Supporting Lee Jun-seok as an alternative"

Professor Park Won-ho of the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Seoul National University mentioned in an interview with the university newspaper, “There has been a lack of established politicians that meet the needs of young voters wanting reform conservatism," suggesting that many students supported Lee Jun-seok as an alternative.

However, there are analyses suggesting that the gender ratio of the sample, approximately 6.5 to 3.5, should be taken into account in this survey. Considering that around half (49.5%) of male respondents supported Lee Jun-seok, it raises the possibility of "over-representation" in the results.

In fact, in a similar survey conducted by Gallup Korea from the 13th to the 15th of last month, the support rate among voters in their 20s showed Lee Jae-myung at 36%, Lee Jun-seok at 24%, and Kim Moon-soo at 14%. The gender ratio of the Gallup survey was closer to 5:5.

This exhibited significant differences compared to the 'Seoul National University Survey on Political Awareness.'

In the results analyzing political inclination by gender, 43.0% of female respondents identified as 'progressive,' while only 11.0% identified as 'conservative.' Conversely, among male respondents, 38.9% identified as 'conservative' and 21.4% as 'progressive.'

Professor Kang Won-taek of the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Seoul National University commented in an interview with the university newspaper, “The polarization has intensified to an extent that it could create deep fissures in society.”

Notably, undergraduate students who identified themselves as 'conservative' showed greater support for the Reform Party (42.0%) compared to the People’s Power Party (29.8%).

Recent significant changes in the political inclinations of undergraduates

The most significant difference between this survey and the previous one in 2017 is the political inclination of undergraduates.

In the 2007 survey, those identifying as 'conservative' accounted for 40.5%, with a consistent decline to 9.4% in 2017. However, this latest survey saw a sharp increase to 29.1%.

Conversely, those identifying as 'progressive' decreased significantly from 41.8% in 2017 to 29.0%, marking the lowest level since the 1992 survey.

Image source: Lee Jun-seok, member of the Reform Party / News1, reference photo for understanding the article / gettyimagesbank