SEOUL– Lee Jae-myung, the presidential nominee of the ruling Democratic Party, is tied with his rival Yoon Seok-youl of the main opposition People Power Party at 35 percent support, a survey showed Thursday.
Lee’s support was unchanged from two weeks ago, while Yoon gained 1 percentage point, according to the poll of 1,007 adults conducted Monday to Wednesday by Embrain Public, Kstat Research, Korea Research and Hankook Research.
Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor opposition People’s Party garnered 9 percent support, down 1 percentage point from two weeks ago.
Sim Sang-jeung of the minor progressive Justice Party gained 2 percentage points to post 4 percent.
When asked to pick the candidate most likely to win, 43 percent of the respondents chose Yoon, while 34 percent opted for Lee.
The survey also found that 45 percent said an opposition candidate must win the March 9 election, while 42 percent said a ruling party candidate should win the election.
When asked to assess President Moon Jae-in’s job performance, 43 percent approved while 51 percent disapproved.
The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.
Meanwhile, a survey conducted by Kantar Korea showed Yoon leading Lee with 41.2 percent to 31.3 percent. The poll asked 1,008 adults between Tuesday and Wednesday.
Ahn had 8.9 percent followed by Sim with 3.9 percent.
Asked about their preferred unified opposition candidate, 43 percent picked Yoon, while 37.1 percent chose Ahn.
Both surveys had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.
Source: Yonhap News Agency