Former Judge Lee Su-jin Leads by 10 Percentage Points Over 5-Term Challenger Na Kyung-won in Intense Contest

On the 29th, a holiday, Lee Su-jin, the Democratic Party candidate (left), and Na Kyung-won, the United Future Party member of the National Assembly, who are competing in Dongjak-eul, Seoul, visited voters in Dongjak-eul, Seoul.
Photo by Yonhap News Agency

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Jin-young] In Seoul Dongjak-eul, where a contest between former judges is drawing attention, political newcomer Lee Su-jin of the Democratic Party of Korea is leading over Na Kyung-won of the United Future Party, a four-term lawmaker.

Recent polls show the gap between the two candidates is around 10 percentage points, exceeding the margin of error.

According to a poll conducted by Korea Research International commissioned by MBC from the 28th to 29th, among 503 men and women aged 18 and over residing in the Dongjak-eul electoral district of Seoul, Candidate Lee received 48.5%, while Candidate Na received 36.6%.

The gap between the two candidates was 11.9 percentage points, which exceeds the margin of error (±4.4%).

The survey method was conducted with 3% landline telephone interviews and 97% mobile phone interviews, with a response rate of 17.1%.

The sampling error is ±4.4% at a 95% confidence level.

By age group, Candidate Lee led in all generations except those aged 60 and over.

In particular, the gap between the two candidates widened to 41.7 percentage points among those in their 40s.

However, when asked "Who do you think will be elected?" regardless of their preferred candidate, Candidate Lee received 40.9%, and Candidate Na received 44.3%.

In a survey conducted by Ipsos commissioned by JoongAng Ilbo from the 27th to 28th among 500 men and women aged 18 and over residing in Dongjak-eul, Candidate Lee also led.

Candidate Lee had a support rate of 46.5%, which was 9.6 percentage points higher than Candidate Na's 36.9%.

This is beyond the margin of error.

The survey method was conducted with 17.0% landline telephone interviews and 83.0% mobile phone interviews, with a response rate of 10.3%.

The sampling error is ±4.4% at a 95% confidence level.

The poll results announced on the 26th by Maeil Business Newspaper and MBN, commissioned to R&Search, were similar to recent polls.

Candidate Lee received 50.4%, and Candidate Na 38.6%, with a gap of 11.8 percentage points between the two candidates.

This survey was conducted from the 23rd to 25th among 524 adult men and women aged 18 and over residing in Dongjak-eul.

It was conducted via a mixed landline and mobile automated response telephone survey, with a response rate of 4.5%.

The sampling error is ±4.3 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For more details, refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.

Candidate Na is seeking a fifth term in this general election, and the Democratic Party strategically nominated Candidate Lee, who exposed judicial corruption allegations, to counter her.

Both candidates are alumni of Seoul National University and share the background of being former judges.

Candidate Na ran in the Seoul Dongjak-eul by-election in July 2014 and narrowly defeated the late Assemblyman Roh Hoe-chan (Justice Party) to secure her third term.

The vote difference between the two candidates at that time was 929 votes.

In the 20th general election, Candidate Na defeated the Democratic Party candidate by 12,245 votes and succeeded in her fourth term.

Candidate Lee, who is seven years junior to Candidate Na at the Judicial Research and Training Institute, served as a Supreme Court judicial researcher, chief judge at Daejeon District Court and Daejeon Family Court, chief judge at Suwon District Court, and research fellow at the Judicial Policy Research Institute.

She entered politics earlier this year as a recruited talent of the Democratic Party.

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