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Democratic Party of Korea leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung speaks during a press conference on Wednesday. (Yonhap) |
New polls have shown a strong lead for main opposition Democratic Party of Korea chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung among voters on the left, while voters on the right did not have a clear favorite.
In a Sept. 8-9 poll of 1,004 South Koreans aged 18 and older, conducted by polling company Next Research, 69.7 percent of liberal voters said they wanted Lee to run in the next presidential election.
Lee enjoyed overwhelming support in the poll, ahead by a far margin over former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon under the previous Moon Jae-in administration, who came second with 10.7 percent. Coming third was Kim Dong-yeon, who succeeded the Democratic Party chair as governor of Gyeonggi Province in the June by-election, with 5 percent.
For conservative voters, it was a tight three-way race between Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon and Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo.
Oh was favored by 26.4 percent of conservative voters as a presidential front-runner, maintaining a slight lead over elite prosecutor-turned-Justice Minister Han’s 21.7 percent, and 2017 presidential candidate Hong’s 18.5 percent.
In another poll taken Sept. 10-12 by public opinion research company RnSearch, 40.1 percent said they wanted to see the Democratic Party chair run again for president. The poll included 1,014 South Koreans aged 18 and older.
Lee was followed by two conservative big-names: Han, who received support from 18.5 percent of polled South Koreans and Oh, who got 11.7 percent support.
The poll results favoring Lee come as several investigations into his alleged wrongdoing have recently resulted in his indictment.
Last week, prosecutors in Suwon indicted him for making false claims about the 2015 city development project he pursued as mayor of Seongnam during the presidential campaign.
Lee, who came under scrutiny over the city project, had accused the Ministry of Land of being behind the change in policy that allowed private investors to join in and make profits. The investors were later suspected of having close ties with him, which he has denied.
Police and prosecutors have said they have so far found no evidence to support his claims.
In a separate investigation, Lee’s case was turned over to prosecutors on Tuesday after police determined that he coerced a real estate developer to sponsor a Seongnam city-run soccer club in return for favors from 2015 to 2017 while he was mayor.
Lee ran against President Yoon Suk-yeol in the April election and lost by a thin margin of 0.73 percent.
By Kim Arin (
arin@heraldcorp.com)
