DP presidential candidate Lee keeps wide lead in opinion polls

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party’s (DP) presidential candidate, maintained a big lead among contenders for the June 3 election, a poll showed Monday.

According to the survey conducted by Realmeter on 1,505 adults aged over 18 from Wednesday to Friday, Lee led the poll with 48.5 percent, down 1.7 percentage points from last week.

Lee’s support has “dipped slightly, falling below the 50 percent mark due to uncertainty over the outcome of the election law violation case, but he still remains the clear front-runner among all candidates,” according to the pollster.

Former Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo of the conservative People Power Party (PPP) came next with 13.4 percent, followed by former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo with 10.2 percent. Former PPP leader Han Dong-hoon garnered 9.7 percent.

Trailing behind were Lee Jun-seok, the minor New Reform Party’s candidate for the election, at 4.4 percent and PPP Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo with 2.5 percent.

In a hypothetical three-way race with the other contenders, Lee’s support was above 50 percent.

By party, the DP received 46.8 percent support, while the PPP garnered 34.6 percent.

The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, with a confidence rate of 95 percent.

South Korea is set to hold a presidential election June 3 after former President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office over his failed martial law bid.