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People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok gives the party’s presidential nominee Yoon Seok-youl two silk bags while at a party Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly in Seoul’s Yeouido on Monday. (pool photo)

The latest Korean poll shows Yoon Seok-youl, presidential nominee for the People Power Party (PPP), holding a big lead over Lee Jae-myung, the nominee for the ruling Democratic Party. Yoon appears to be enjoying a boost in the polls after he was confirmed as the PPP’s nominee at the party convention on Friday.

When the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI) asked 1,009 voting-age adults around Korea on Nov. 5–6 about who they supported for the next presidential election, 43% chose Yoon, compared to 31.2% for Lee, putting Yoon in the lead above the margin of error.

Conducted at the request of broadcaster TBS, the poll had a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 points. People's Party candidate Ahn Cheol-soo polled at 4.7%, Justice Party candidate Sim Sang-jung at 3.7%, and former Deputy Prime Minister Kim Dong-yeon at 1.4%.

Yoon’s standing in the polls was 10.6 points higher than in last week’s poll for a hypothetical four-way match. The former prosecutor general’s support rose 15 points among men (45.6%), 18.7 points among people in their 20s (34.3%), and 16.1 points among people in their 30s (35.5%). Yoon also saw a 14.8-point increase in Seoul dwellers (47.3%) and a 16.7-point increase among moderates (48.4%).

The KSOI noted that the percentage of respondents who supported miscellaneous candidates dropped 11.4 points over the past week, from 18.1% last week to 6.7% this week, and concluded that some of those voters have migrated to Yoon following his nomination by the PPP.

Yoon also held the lead in a hypothetical head-to-head race against Lee, at 47.3% to 35.2%. Compared to the neck-and-neck results in last week’s poll — Yoon’s 36.6% to Lee’s 36.5% — Yoon picked up 10.7 points while Lee lost 1.3.

In addition, the poll found that more Koreans think a new party should be sent to the Blue House in next year’s presidential election. That position was endorsed by 53.6% of respondents, while 37% said the ruling party should stay in power. Compared to the Oct. 8 poll, the share of respondents who want power to change hands was up 2.1 points, while the share who want the same party in power fell 2.7 points.

When asked about their political orientation, 35.9% of respondents said they leaned conservative, which was the highest percentage reported since the KSOI began polling. The previous record was set on Sept. 17, at 35.5%. Of the respondents, 32.4% described themselves as moderates and 26% called themselves progressives.

All respondents in the poll were contacted on mobile phones using the automatic response method and anonymized numbers provided by the National Election Commission. A summary of the poll and more detailed results can be found on the websites of the KSOI and the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.

By Lee Wan, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]