[AKYUNG Poll] Lee Jae-myung and Hong Joon-pyo Cannot Be Assured... Lee Nak-yeon and Yoon Seok-youl Close Behind

Democratic Party and Conservative Opposition Show Close Race in Presidential Candidate Suitability
Party Supporters Rally Amid Daejang-dong Development Controversy

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] As the primary elections to select next year's presidential candidates proceed within each political party, it has been revealed that the top two contenders in both the ruling and opposition parties are engaged in a close race within the margin of error.

In the ruling party, Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung and former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon are in an ultra-close contest with only a 0.2 percentage point difference, while in the conservative opposition, former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl has significantly narrowed the gap with People Power Party lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo, bringing his approval rating within the margin of error.

In hypothetical one-on-one matchups between the leading candidates of the ruling and opposition parties, former Prosecutor General Yoon and lawmaker Hong each hold an advantage over Governor Lee and former leader Lee, respectively.

According to a public opinion poll commissioned by Asia Economy to Win-G Korea Consulting, conducted from the 25th to 26th among 1,016 voters aged 18 and over nationwide (100% mobile phone virtual numbers, automated response), both parties showed a strengthening two-strong candidate structure in their primaries.

In the suitability survey conducted only among Democratic Party presidential candidates, Governor Lee received 33.7%, showing little difference from former leader Lee Nak-yeon’s 33.5%. Compared to the previous survey, Governor Lee’s support rose by 4.1 percentage points, and former leader Lee’s by 9.6 percentage points. Although former leader Lee is rapidly closing the gap, considering the recent emergence of the ‘Daejang-dong development scandal,’ Governor Lee has not suffered a loss in support.

Win-G Korea Consulting explained, "In Governor Lee’s case, there was some defection among undecided voters and supporters of other parties, but support within the Democratic Party actually increased."

In the suitability survey among conservative opposition presidential candidates, lawmaker Hong received 33.5%, showing a close race within the margin of error against former Prosecutor General Yoon’s 29.5%. Compared to the previous survey (conducted on the 11th?12th), Hong’s support increased by only 0.7 percentage points, while Yoon’s rose by 3.7 percentage points. Although recent polls showed Yoon losing the top spot to Hong among conservative opposition candidates, this survey indicates he has succeeded in narrowing the gap.

In hypothetical one-on-one matchups conducted only between the top two candidates of the ruling and opposition parties, opposition candidates generally showed superiority over ruling party candidates. Lawmaker Hong led both Governor Lee and former leader Lee beyond the margin of error, and former Prosecutor General Yoon won against Governor Lee by more than the margin of error.

The response rate for this survey was 8.4%, and the sample was extracted with weighting by gender, age, and region based on the resident registration population data from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety as of the end of January. The sampling error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For detailed survey information, please refer to the Win-G Korea Consulting website or the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.

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