Liberal frontrunner Lee Jae-myung still leads his main conservative rival Kim Moon-soo by more than 10 percentage points, even though the race has tightened ahead of the election on June 3.
South Korea, deeply polarised after months of unrest, will hold a snap election on June 3 to choose a successor to ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol, whose brief imposition of martial law intensified political divisions and triggered nationwide protests.
A Gallup Korea poll conducted May 24-25 among 1,004 likely voters showed Lee leading with 49%, followed by Kim at 35% – a 14-point gap.
Third-party candidate Lee Jun-seok polled at 11%. The survey is among the final major polls before a legally mandated blackout period on new poll publications.
