Lee Nak-yeon Leads Next Presidential Preference for 8 Consecutive Months... Widens Gap with Hwang

Former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon is entering the press conference room on the 23rd at Yongsan Station in Seoul after greeting returning home travelers with the Democratic Party leadership. At this event, former Prime Minister Lee stated that he would "accept with honor and responsibility" the co-chairmanship of the joint election committee proposed by the party and his candidacy for Jongno, Seoul. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] In the next presidential candidate preference survey, former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon once again set a personal record, securing first place for eight consecutive months. The gap with Hwang Kyo-ahn, leader of the Liberty Korea Party who ranked second, remains outside the margin of error.

Realmeter announced on the 4th that in the next presidential candidate preference survey conducted from the 28th to the 31st of last month targeting 14 major politicians from both ruling and opposition parties, commissioned by OhmyNews, former Prime Minister Lee recorded 29.9%, up 0.5 percentage points from the previous survey, ranking first. Hwang Kyo-ahn ranked second with 17.7%, down 2.4 percentage points. The preference gap between former Prime Minister Lee and Hwang widened from 9.3 percentage points to 12.2 percentage points.

Former Prime Minister Lee ranked first in the Gwangju-Jeolla (52.0%) region, Gyeonggi-Incheon (30.4%), Daejeon-Sejong-Chungcheong (29.1%), Seoul (29.1%), and Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam (27.7%). He was also ranked first in most age groups including those in their 20s (21.6%), 30s (30.1%), 40s (39.6%), and 50s (33.7%). Additionally, he ranked first among progressives (49.9%), moderates (28.7%), Democratic Party supporters (63.0%), and supporters of President Moon Jae-in’s administration (59.3%).

Hwang Kyo-ahn ranked first in the Daegu-Gyeongbuk (25.0%) region, among those aged 60 and above (26.6%), conservatives (42.0%), Liberty Korea Party supporters (49.6%), and opponents of President Moon’s administration (32.6%).

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung ranked third with 5.6%, down 3.2 percentage points from the previous survey. Former Bareunmirae Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo, who declared the founding of the 'Ahn Cheol-soo New Party (tentative name),' rose three places from seventh last month to fourth with 4.7%. Former Liberty Korea Party leader Hong Joon-pyo ranked fifth with 4.4%.

Others in the top ten included Yoo Seung-min, Chairman of the New Conservative Party’s Conservative Reconstruction Committee (3.8%), Shim Sang-jung, leader of the Justice Party (3.7%), former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon (3.7%), Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon (2.9%), and Gyeongnam Province Governor Kim Kyung-soo (2.5%).

The combined preference for the pro-progressive and ruling party candidates (Lee Nak-yeon, Lee Jae-myung, Shim Sang-jung, Park Won-soon, Kim Kyung-soo, Kim Boo-kyum, Im Jong-seok) fell by 2 percentage points to 47.8%, while the combined preference for the pro-conservative and opposition candidates (Hwang Kyo-ahn, Ahn Cheol-soo, Hong Joon-pyo, Yoo Seung-min, Oh Se-hoon, Na Kyung-won, Won Hee-ryong) decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 37.9%, narrowing the gap between the two camps from 11.8 percentage points to 9.9 percentage points.

This survey contacted 51,174 adults aged 18 and over nationwide, with a final 2,511 respondents completing the survey, recording a response rate of 4.9%. The sampling error is ±2.0 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For more details, please refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.