South Korea: Democratic Party Presidential candidate Lee keeps wide lead in opinion polls

Seoul, April 28 (IANS) Lee Jae-myung, the South Korea's Democratic Party's (DP) presidential candidate, maintained a big lead among contenders for the June 3 election, a poll showed on Monday.

According to the survey conducted by Realmeter on 1,505 adults aged over 18 from Wednesday to Friday, Lee led the poll with 48.5 per cent, down 1.7 percentage points from last week.

Lee's support has "dipped slightly, falling below the 50 per cent mark due to uncertainty over the outcome of the election law violation case, but he still remains the clear front-runner among all candidates," according to the pollster.

Former Labour Minister Kim Moon-soo of the conservative People Power Party (PPP) came next with 13.4 per cent, followed by former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo with 10.2 per cent. Former PPP leader Han Dong-hoon garnered 9.7 per cent.

Trailing behind were Lee Jun-seok, the minor New Reform Party's candidate for the election, at 4.4 per cent and PPP Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo with 2.5 per cent.

In a hypothetical three-way race with the other contenders, Lee's support was above 50 per cent.

By party, the DP received 46.8 per cent support, while the PPP garnered 34.6 per cent.

The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, with a confidence rate of 95 per cent, Yonhap news agency reported.

South Korea is set to hold a presidential election June 3 after former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office over his failed martial law bid.

Earlier on April 27, Lee who is the front-runner in opinion polls for the upcoming presidential election, won the party's presidential nomination.

The human rights lawyer-turned-politician won 89.77 per cent of all votes cast in the party's primary, securing a majority of the votes needed to avoid a runoff. Lee has put economic recovery as his top priority and voiced openness for talks with North Korea.

This marks the highest figure ever recorded in a presidential primary among DP-affiliated candidates since South Korea's democratisation in 1987.

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Kim Dong-yeon came in second with 6.87 per cent, while Kim Kyung-soo, a former South Gyeongsang Province governor, won 3.36 per cent.

"I will humbly fulfil the responsibility of achieving national unity, which is both the mission of politics and the president's top priority," Lee said in his acceptance speech.

In 2022, Lee lost to former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol by just 0.73 percentage points. The presidential election is scheduled for June 3.

Additionally, the minor opposition Rebuilding Korea Party (RKP) also officially declared its support for Lee Jae-myung.

"We declare that Lee is not only the DP's candidate but also the candidate supported by our party. We will dedicate all our efforts to ensure Lee's overwhelming victory," the RKP's acting leader, Kim Sun-min, said in a release.

Lee is the front-runner for the presidential election to be held on June 3 after former President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached for his shocking declaration of martial law.

--IANS

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