Family Risks Highlighted as the 'Presidential Election' Shakes... Fluctuating Support Rates for Yoon and Lee

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The 'family risk' surrounding the presidential candidates Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Seok-yeol has emerged as a powerful variable in the presidential election phase, affecting the actual support rate landscape. In the results of two polls released on the 20th, both candidates Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Seok-yeol could not avoid a decline in support rates, but the extent differed.

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, is attending the "The Nation Will Raise Together" National Campaign Committee meeting held at the central party office in Yeouido, Seoul on the 20th, delivering a speech. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

In the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI) poll released that morning, Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, received a support rate of 40.3%, down 0.3 percentage points from the previous poll by the same institute (October 10-11). Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party presidential candidate, plunged by 4.6 percentage points to 37.4%. Although it is a close race within the margin of error (sampling error ±3.1 percentage points at 95% confidence level), this is the first time since Yoon was selected as the presidential candidate that Lee has led in this poll (commissioned by TBS, conducted nationwide among 1,008 adults aged 18 and over on October 17-18).

On the other hand, in the Realmeter poll released on the same day, Lee's support rate fell by 1.7 percentage points compared to the previous week's poll (October 5-10), while Yoon's dropped by 0.8 percentage points. Lee stood at 38%, and Yoon at 44.4%, showing Yoon's lead outside the margin of error (commissioned by OhmyNews, conducted nationwide among 3,043 adults aged 18 and over on October 12-17, with a sampling error of ±1.8 percentage points at 95% confidence level). Both polls were conducted amid heated controversies over Yoon's spouse Kim Geon-hee's false career claims and Lee's son's gambling scandal.

However, despite Yoon's official apology, the significant drop in support rate observed in the KSOI poll conducted over the weekend seems to reflect ongoing public skepticism about the sincerity of Yoon's apology. The People Power Party and others actively responded to the Kim-related controversies through fact-checking, but as media scrutiny intensified, the controversies appeared to amplify.

Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, attended the welcome ceremony for new recruits held on the 20th at the Chairman's Office of the New Era Preparation Committee at the Central Party Office in Yeouido, Seoul, and explained the background of the recruitment. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

In this so-called unfavorable presidential election, the addition of the family risk as a negative factor has also led to a significant rise in support rates for third-party candidates. According to KSOI, Ahn Cheol-soo, the People's Party presidential candidate, saw his support rate rise from 2.8% to 4.6%, an increase of 1.8 percentage points, while Sim Sang-jung, the Justice Party presidential candidate, also rose from 2.6% to 4.2%, an increase of 1.6 percentage points. In the Realmeter poll, Ahn's support rate increased from 3.2% to 3.9%, a 0.7 percentage point rise. For detailed information related to the polls, please refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website and others.

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