"Next President Lee Jae-myung" ... Ranked '1st' in 8 out of 10 Institutions

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] A "tailwind" is blowing on Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung's path to the 2022 presidential election. In 10 presidential election-related opinion polls conducted at the end of December last year, Lee Jae-myung ranked first in 8 of them.

In particular, Governor Lee Jae-myung took first place in presidential candidate preference polls conducted by the three major broadcasters KBS, MBC, and SBS, as well as conservative newspapers such as Dong-A and Chosun, and progressive and centrist newspapers such as Hankyoreh and Seoul.

On the other hand, Lee Nak-yeon, the leader of the Democratic Party and a strong presidential contender against Lee Jae-myung, failed to secure first place in any of the 10 polls, showing somewhat shocking results. Lee Nak-yeon ranked second in only 5 of the 10 polls, and remained within the top three in the rest.

Current Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl ranked first in 2 of the 10 polls.

First, SBS and Ipsos conducted a survey from December 28 to 30 last year targeting 1,001 people nationwide (10% landline, 90% mobile) to measure support for the next presidential candidates. Lee Jae-myung recorded 23.6%, taking first place. Yoon Seok-youl and Lee Nak-yeon followed with 18.5% and 16.7%, respectively. Those who answered "don't know" accounted for 23.2%.

MBC, in collaboration with Korea Research International, conducted a preference survey via mobile phone interviews over two days from December 29 to 30 last year with 1,007 respondents. The support rates were Lee Jae-myung (20.8%), Yoon Seok-youl (18.2%), and Lee Nak-yeon (17.5%) in that order.

KBS, jointly with Korea Research, conducted a survey from December 27 to 29 last year targeting 1,000 men and women aged 18 and over nationwide, asking who is most suitable as the next president. Lee Jae-myung received the highest support at 21.7%. Lee Nak-yeon recorded 16.9%, and Yoon Seok-youl 13.8%.

In the three major broadcasters' surveys, Lee Jae-myung ranked first in all presidential candidate preference polls. Lee also did not relinquish first place in newspaper surveys.

Hankyoreh Newspaper, in collaboration with CaseStat Research, conducted a suitability survey for the next presidential candidate from December 27 to 29 last year with 1,000 respondents. The results were similar to the SBS survey. Lee Jae-myung took first place with 23.8%. Yoon Seok-youl and Lee Nak-yeon followed with 17.2% and 15.4%, respectively. Ahn Cheol-soo, the Seoul mayoral candidate, ranked fourth with 6.4%.

Chosun Ilbo and TV Chosun, jointly with Kantar Korea, conducted a "multi-candidate presidential candidate support rate" survey over four days from December 27 to 30 last year with 1,010 respondents nationwide. Although the gap between candidates was not large, Lee Jae-myung again ranked first with 18.2%. Lee Nak-yeon was second with 16.2%, and Yoon Seok-youl third with 15.1%.

In suitability for ruling party candidates, Lee Jae-myung led with 26.4%, beating Lee Nak-yeon (16.5%) by 7.9 percentage points. Current Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun (4.0%), Justice Party lawmaker Shim Sang-jung (4.0%), Democratic Party lawmaker Park Yong-jin (1.2%), and former presidential chief of staff Lim Jong-seok (0.5%) followed. Those who answered "don't know" accounted for 45.1%.

Dong-A Ilbo, in collaboration with Research & Research, conducted a "New Year opinion poll" from December 27 to 29 last year with 1,002 respondents nationwide. Lee Jae-myung did not give up first place, recording 24.6%. Lee Nak-yeon was second with 19.1%, and Yoon Seok-youl third with 18.2%.

Seoul Shinmun, jointly with Hyundai Research Institute, conducted a New Year opinion poll from December 28 to 30 last year with 1,012 respondents nationwide. Lee Jae-myung ranked first with 26.7%. Yoon Seok-youl (21.5%) and Lee Nak-yeon (15.6%) trailed by 5 to 10 percentage points, ranking second and third, respectively. Ahn Cheol-soo ranked fourth with 6.8%.

Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI) conducted a "suitability for next presidential candidate" survey on December 26 last year. Lee Jae-myung ranked first with 23.4%. Lee Nak-yeon was second with 16.8%, and Yoon Seok-youl third with 15.0%.

In surveys by Dailyan and Newsis, Lee Jae-myung yielded first place to Yoon Seok-youl.

Dailyan, jointly with R&Search, conducted a ruling and opposition presidential candidate suitability survey from December 24 to 26 last year with 1,020 respondents nationwide. Lee Jae-myung ranked second with 21.2%, behind Yoon Seok-youl's 23.5%. Lee Nak-yeon was third with 19.3%.

However, in a suitability survey for ruling party candidates, Lee Jae-myung led with 25.7%, beating Lee Nak-yeon (17.6%) by 8.1 percentage points. Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae (5.3%) ranked third, followed by Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun (3.9%) and current Gyeongnam Governor Kim Kyung-soo (2.1%) in fourth and fifth places.

Among opposition candidates, Ahn Cheol-soo attracted attention by ranking first with 13.1%. Yoon Seok-youl was excluded from this survey as he was not included among opposition candidates.

Newsis, jointly with Realmeter, conducted a "ruling and opposition next presidential candidate preference" survey over two days from December 27 to 28 last year with 1,000 respondents nationwide. Lee Jae-myung ranked third with 19.8%, the only time he placed third among the 10 surveys. Yoon Seok-youl ranked first with 25.1%. Lee Nak-yeon ranked second with 20.0%, just 0.02 percentage points ahead of Lee Jae-myung.

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