A recent poll showed that opposition leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung, who narrowly lost to Yoon in the 2022 presidential election, has maintained his lead in the projection for a potential early presidential election.
The same poll suggested that more than half of South Koreans favored the transition of power to a liberal leader, should a snap election take place in the case of a verdict that confirms the impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol, the conservative president accused of leading an insurrection.
According to a Realmeter poll of 1,000 eligible voters released Monday, Lee, the current leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, kept his place as the front-runner in a potential early election, garnering 43.3 percent support from likely voters.
Lee leads conservative figures including Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo, who notched 18.1 percent support and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon with 10.3 percent support, as well as Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo, former ruling party leader Han Dong-hoon and former conservative lawmaker Yoo Seong-min.
Lee was also considered a front-runner among liberal figures, with other potential candidates including former South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo, incumbent Gyeonggi Province Gov. Kim Dong-yeon and former Prime Ministers Lee Nak-yon and Kim Boo-kyum, as none of the four received beyond 1.5 percent support.
Nearly 9 out of 10 who identified as affiliated with the liberal Democratic Party chose Lee as the optimal presidential candidate. Lee also had the support of 46.6 percent of those identified as centrists, leading Labor Minister Kim and Mayor Oh's 12.1 percent each.
Monday's poll also indicated that 51.5 percent of respondents backed a power shift to a liberal figure following the conservative president's potential ouster. The figure has risen for three consecutive weeks, including an increase of 2.3 percentage points over the past week.
On the other hand 44.5 percent of respondents opposed a power shift, down 0.7 percentage points in a week.
The poll suggested that among those who identified as centrists, 57.8 percent favored a power shift away from the conservatives, while 38.5 percent suggested otherwise.
Meanwhile, the same poll indicated that 43.1 percent of respondents identified as supporters of the liberal opposition Democratic Party of Korea, surpassing the 41.4 percent who identified as supporters of the ruling People Power Party.
It was the first time since the second week of January that a Realmeter poll showed that there were more Democratic Party supporters than People Power Party supporters.
consnow@heraldcorp.com
