Yoon, Lee neck and neck in presidential race: survey

Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential nominee of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), and his opponent Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) are neck and neck in a hypothetical multicandidate race, a survey showed Monday.

Yoon garnered 40 percent support, while Lee trailed by only 0.5 percentage point at 39.5 percent, within the survey’s margin of error, according to the survey of 1,007 adults conducted Friday and Saturday by the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI).

Yoon’s rating fell 5.6 percentage points from the previous week, while Lee’s gained 7.1 percentage points.

Sim Sang-jeung, the candidate of the progressive Justice Party, earned 4.5 percent, followed by Ahn Cheol-soo, the candidate of the minor opposition People’s Party, with 4 percent and former Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon with 1.1 percent.

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

Meanwhile, President Moon Jae-in’s approval rating rose to 39.5 percent, up 2.2 percentage points from a week ago, another survey showed.

According to the survey conducted by Realmeter on 2,517 people over the age of 18 from Nov. 15-19, the approval rating of the PPP fell 1.3 percentage points to 41.2 percent.

In contrast, the approval rating of the DP rose 1.8 percentage points to 30.3 percent, the survey showed.