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42% favor Lee Jae-myung, 13% Han Duck-soo in latest poll

Published: 01 May. 2025, 13:53 Updated: 01 May. 2025, 18:16

Former Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung claps his hands at a rally for the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol in Jongno District, central Seoul, on March. 1. [NEWS1]

Lee Jae-myung of the liberal Democratic Party (DP) received the highest support in a recent poll on preferred presidential candidates, garnering 42 percent.

Acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo followed with 13 percent, while the conservative People Power Party's (PPP) Han Dong-hoon and Kim Moon-soo trailed with 9 percent and 6 percent, respectively.

The National Barometer Survey, jointly conducted by Embrain Public, Kstat Research, Korea Research and Hankook Research, was released Thursday. The poll surveyed 1,000 men and women aged 18 or older nationwide from Monday to Wednesday. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points with 95 percent confidence.

Among supporters of the DP and the splinter liberal Rebuilding Korea Party, Lee secured 89 percent and 82 percent support, respectively. In contrast, among PPP supporters, Han Duck-soo received 32 percent, followed by Han Dong-hoon with 21 percent and Kim with 15 percent.

Reform Party candidate Lee Jun-seok earned just 2 percent support.

Lee also led in favorability ratings, with 46 percent of respondents expressing a favorable view of him. However, 52 percent said they had an unfavorable view.

Han Duck-soo recorded a 31 percent favorable rating with 64 percent unfavorable. Han Dong-hoon followed with 26 percent favorable and 69 percent unfavorable. Kim received 25 percent favorability and 71 percent unfavorability. Lee Jun-seok posted the lowest favorability rating at 16 percent, with 79 percent viewing him unfavorably.

In hypothetical three-way races, Lee Jae-myung maintained a wide lead of 15 to 21 percentage points over his rivals.

In a matchup between Lee Jae-myung, Kim Moon-soo and Lee Jun-seok, support ratings were 46 percent, 25 percent and 8 percent, respectively. Other combinations showed similar results, with Lee receiving 45 percent, Han Dong-hoon 24 percent and Lee Jun-seok 6 percent, and in another scenario, Lee at 46 percent, Han Duck-soo 31 percent and Lee Jun-seok again at 6 percent.

When asked about the direction of the next presidential administration, 49 percent of respondents supported a change in government through an opposition party victory, while 39 percent favored the ruling party retaining power.

In terms of party support, the DP led with 39 percent, followed by the PPP with 34 percent. The Rebuilding Korea Party received 6 percent, the Reform Party 3 percent and the Jinbo Party 1 percent.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY LEE HAY-JUNE [[email protected]]