SEOUL– Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung and his main opposition rival Yoon Suk-yeol are still running neck-and-neck, a survey showed Wednesday, after they apologized for controversies related to their family members.
A Realmeter poll of 1,027 people, which was conducted on Monday and Tuesday, put Yoon ahead with 40.1 percent against Lee’s 37 percent. The gap was within the margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.
The Realmeter poll was the first survey conducted after both Yoon and Lee apologized for alleged wrongdoings related to their family members.
Last week, Lee apologized for his son’s gambling. Yoon also apologized over allegations his wife falsified her credentials when applying for jobs.
In the poll, both Lee and Yoon saw their support ratings drop 0.1 and 5.2 percentage points.
Asked whether the respondents could change their support for the two presidential candidates in the wake of the family-related controversies, 70.7 percent said they will not change their support.
In comparison, 16.1 percent responded that they could change their support and 8.9 percent said they already changed their support.
Meanwhile, Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the minor opposition People’s Party, came in third with 4.2 percent, followed by Sim Sang-jeung of the minor progressive Justice Party at 3.6 percent in the Realmeter survey.
Source: Yonhap News Agency