Ruling party presidential candidate Lee leads rival Yoon 34.3 percent to 28.7 percent: poll

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, right, and his rival Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party attend a roundtable meeting held in Seoul, Dec. 28. Korea Times file

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), leads his rival from the main opposition People Power Party, Yoon Suk-yeol, 34.3 percent to 28.7 percent, a poll showed Saturday.

Lee's 5.6 percentage point lead over Yoon in the survey by Hankook Research was within its margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.

The poll, commissioned by the Hankook Ilbo daily, was conducted on 1,005 voters nationwide Wednesday and Thursday and has a 95 percent confidence level.

Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor opposition People's Party came in third with support of 9 percent, followed by Sim Sang-jeung of the progressive Justice Party at 4.5 percent.

The poll result is another indication of Ahn's recent rise in popularity in opinion surveys. He garnered support of 10.3 percent in a separate poll released a day earlier, the first time that he has registered in double digits in the ongoing presidential race.

A total of 47.8 percent of the respondents in the latest poll said an opposition presidential candidate should be supported to deliver a verdict against the current administration, while 37.5 percent threw their support behind the DPK remaining in power.

Of those who opted for an opposition candidate, 64.8 percent agreed with the idea of merging the candidacies of Yoon and Ahn.

Meanwhile, 63.5 percent of respondents were in favor of the recent pardon granted to former President Park Geun-hye, while 32.4 percent said it was inappropriate. (Yonhap)