hankyoreh

Then-Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl takes questions from reporters after announcing his resignation at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in Seoul on March 4. (Kim Hye-yun/The Hankyoreh)

Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl maintains his definite lead over other presidential hopefuls in a survey conducted by the polling company Realmeter.

Realmeter said that Yoon is outpacing other presidential hopefuls in head-to-head matchups. The survey released Monday had Yoon ahead of Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung by a 51.5 to 32.3% margin and also showed him leading former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yon 51.6 to 30.1%.

The survey, conducted at the request of the YTN network, measured responses collected Friday from 1,011 adult South Koreans, with a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points and a 95% confidence level.

In a general poll of presidential hopefuls, Yoon again came out ahead at 37.2%, followed by Lee Jae-myung at 21% and Lee Nak-yon at 11%. They were followed by independent lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo (5.9%), People’s Party leader Ahn Cheol-soo (5%), former Health Minister Rhyu Si-min (3.2%), former Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae (2.4%) and former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun (2.4%).

Realmeter chief researcher Bae Chul-ho said, “Yoon is a standout among conservative presidential hopefuls, so it’s natural conservative voters are rallying behind him. […] The poll results reflect increased expectations for Yoon after the recent by-election.”

Another poll by the Korea Society Opinion Institute showed similar results as the Realmeter poll, with 33.7% choosing Yoon as their most preferred presidential hopeful. Following Yoon were Lee Jae-myung (27.1%), Lee Nak-yon (11%), Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon (3.9%), Ahn (3.7%), Hong (3.7%) and Chung (3.4%).

Yoon enjoyed strong support among people aged 60 and above (50.3%) and supporters of the People Power Party (66.5%). Lee Jae-myung, on the other hand, had a high level of support among people in their 40s (44.8%) and liberal voters.

Conducted at the request of the TBS network, the poll surveyed 1,005 adult South Koreans nationwide on Friday and Saturday and had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points and a 95% confidence level.

By Bae Ji-hyun, staff reporter

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