Yoon leads Lee 48 pct to 36 pct, 37 pct to 36 pct: polls

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol is leading his ruling party rival Lee Jae-myung by 12 percentage points and 1 percentage point, respectively, two polls showed Friday.

Yoon of the conservative People Power Party received 48 percent support, while Lee of the liberal Democratic Party received 36 percent, according to a survey of 1,000 adults conducted by Research View on Wednesday and Thursday.

Yoon gained 2 points from last week, while Lee lost 2 points.

According to a separate survey by Gallup Korea, which polled 1,001 adults from Tuesday to Thursday, Yoon led Lee 37 percent to 36 percent.

Two weeks ago, they were tied at 35 percent each.

In the Research View poll, Ahn Cheol-soo, the candidate of the minor opposition People’s Party, came third with 8 percent, followed by Sim Sang-jeung of the minor progressive Justice Party at 3 percent.

In the Gallup Korea poll, Ahn and Sim posted 13 percent and 3 percent, respectively.

By age group, Lee won around half the support of voters in their 40s and 50s, while Yoon received similar support among those older than 60, according to the same survey.

Among voters identifying as liberals, 68 percent backed Lee, while among conservatives, 63 percent backed Yoon.

Among moderates, Lee received 33 percent support and Yoon 37 percent.

President Moon Jae-in’s approval rating fell 1 percentage point from last week to 41 percent, while his disapproval rating rose 1 point to 52 percent.

When asked to evaluate the government’s COVID-19 response, 45 percent said it was responding well, down 6 percentage points from last month, while 44 percent said it was not responding well, up 4 points from last month.

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