Yoon Seok-yeol Extends Upward Trend, Widens Approval Gap with Lee Jae-myung... Leading by 13.2%p

Yoon Seok-yeol Leads Lee Jae-myung 50.2% in Virtual One-on-One Matchup

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] As Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, continues to gain support as the next presidential candidate, the gap with Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, has widened. Candidate Yoon led Candidate Lee by 13.2 percentage points, which is outside the margin of error.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to a public opinion poll conducted by the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI) commissioned by TBS on the 12th and 13th, Candidate Yoon's approval rating rose by 2.6% compared to last week's survey, reaching 45.6%. Candidate Lee's approval rating also increased by 1.2 percentage points from last week to 32.4%, but the gap between the candidates widened as Candidate Yoon's increase was larger. Sim Sang-jung, the Justice Party's presidential candidate, recorded 4.9%, Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party had 4%, and Kim Dong-yeon, the preparatory committee chairman of the New Wave party, recorded 1.1%. Other candidates accounted for 2.5%, and undecided voters were 9.5%.

However, Candidate Yoon's support varied by generation, showing mixed results. Among those in their 30s, support increased by 9.9 percentage points compared to last week, reaching 45.4%. In contrast, support among those in their 20s dropped by 7.2 percentage points from last week, falling to 27.1%.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the other hand, Candidate Lee's support among those in their 20s rose by 3.1 percentage points. However, support among those in their 30s fell by 3.4 percentage points to 28.2%.

When asked about the likelihood of winning regardless of support, Candidate Yoon scored 48.7%, Candidate Lee 39.4%, Ahn 2.3%, Sim 2%, and Chairman Kim 1%, in that order.

Meanwhile, in a hypothetical one-on-one contest between Candidate Yoon and Candidate Lee, Candidate Yoon's support was 50.2%, leading Candidate Lee, who had 36%, by 14.2 percentage points. Compared to last week's survey, Candidate Yoon's support increased by 2.9 percentage points, and Candidate Lee's by 0.8 percentage points. KSOI explained, "Since the regular surveys began, this is the first time Candidate Yoon's support in a hypothetical one-on-one contest has exceeded 50%."

This survey was conducted via automated response system (ARS) on mobile phones with 1,009 adults aged 18 and over nationwide. The sampling error is ±3.1 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.