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Yoon leads Lee 36.1 pct to 31.6 pct: poll

February 9, 2022

 Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol is leading his ruling party rival Lee Jae-myung with 36.1 percent support against Lee’s 31.6 percent, a poll showed Wednesday.

Yoon of the conservative People Power Party was ahead of Lee of the liberal Democratic Party by 4.5 percentage points, which was within the margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level, according to the Next Research survey of 1,001 adults conducted Monday and Tuesday.

In third place was Ahn Cheol-soo, the candidate of the minor opposition People’s Party, at 10 percent, followed by Sim Sang-jeung of the minor progressive Justice Party at 3 percent.

Presidential candidates (from L to R) Sim Sang-jeung of the Justice Party, Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party, Yoon Suk-yeol of the People Power Party and Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party pose for a photo ahead of their first TV debate at a KBS studio in Seoul on Feb. 3, 2022. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

Presidential candidates (from L to R) Sim Sang-jeung of the Justice Party, Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party, Yoon Suk-yeol of the People Power Party and Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party pose for a photo ahead of their first TV debate at a KBS studio in Seoul on Feb. 3, 2022. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

When asked who was likely to win the March 9 election, 47.9 percent chose Yoon, while 39.7 percent picked Lee.

More than half, or 52.8 percent, said they wished to see a change of power through the next election, while 35.5 percent said they preferred an extension of the current liberal rule.

On the possibility of the candidates merging their campaigns, 59.2 percent said it was unlikely to happen between Lee and Ahn, with 20.6 percent choosing Lee and 13.6 percent picking Ahn as the unified candidate.

On a merger between Yoon and Ahn, 37.7 percent expected it to be difficult, but 31.7 percent supported Yoon and 25.6 percent supported Ahn as the unified candidate.

In a Gallup Korea survey of 1,007 adults conducted Monday and Tuesday, Yoon beat Lee 44.8 percent to 39.5 percent in the hypothetical scenario of the PPP candidate merging campaigns with Ahn.

With Ahn as the unified candidate, Ahn beat Lee 45.6 percent to 35.9 percent.

The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.

A third survey, conducted by Straight News on Saturday and Sunday on 1,003 adults, showed Yoon leading Lee 45.5 percent to 39 percent, with Ahn trailing at 9 percent and Sim at 2.7 percent.

The gap between Yoon and Lee was outside the margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.