By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter
Presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) is expected to cement his lead in the race after the prosecution cleared him Wednesday of all allegations linked to a financial scam, which have haunted him throughout the campaign so far.
However, a majority of voters expect the three-way race to become a more competitive one featuring two prominent candidates.
About 63 percent of the respondents predicted the current order will change while 31 percent expected the status quo to remain, a recent poll noted.
The former Seoul mayor's continued lead was expected, according to a latest survey performed after news media reported Lee would likely be cleared of allegations prior to the prosecution's announcement.
A KBS survey Tuesday showed 42.1 percent support for Lee Myung-bak, with 18.9 percent and 18.2 percent support for Chung Dong-young of the United New Democratic Party (UNDP) and for independent Lee Hoi-chang, respectively.
Lee Myung-bak, the former CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction has remained firmly in front since the race kicked off, enjoying a two-fold lead over the runners-up.
Even if the prosecution had proved allegations against the former businessman, he would have kept the No. 1 position as 63 percent of his followers said they would continue to support him.
The poll showed 31 percent of them said they would turn their back on Lee with half of these switching their support to Lee Hoi-chang, a former prime minister.
This left the former mayor with support of 29 percent, followed by the former premier with 25.1 percent and Chung, a former unification minister, with 21.4 percent.
Meanwhile, Chung surpassed the former premier for the first time in the survey though the difference was 0.7 percentage points, which suggested underdogs will seek to make alliances to gain more support.
Sim Dae-pyong, the presidential candidate of the People First Party, recently dropped his bid and backed Lee Hoi-chang, while Chung is negotiating with Moon Kook-hyun of the Creative Korea Party to select a unified liberal candidate to challenge the GNP nominee.
Chung is also trying to negotiating with Rhee In-je of the Democratic Party, following the breakdown of a previous agreement.