PUBLIC POLL ON PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

[Anchor Lead]

KBS has conducted a public poll to find out which presidential candidate voters would choose if the election was held tomorrow. The results show Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential nominee of the People Power Party, is neck and neck with Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung.

[Pkg]

First, the respondents were asked which candidate they support. About 33 percent picked Lee Jae-myung and slightly over 34 percent picked Yoon Suk-yeol. The gap is within the margin of error. Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party and Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party each received 4.8 percent of the votes. About 18 percent of respondents did not support any of the candidates or didn't answer. When asked if they would stick to their current choices until the March presidential election, about 76 percent of those supporting Lee Jae-myung and 72.6 percent of Yoon's supporters said they would. More than 67 percent of Sim's supporters and 84 percent of Ahn's supporters said they could change their choices. Next, the respondents were asked which of the presidential candidates had the best morality regardless of whether they support them or not. Lee, Yoon and Sim each received over 10 percent of votes Ahn came in first with 23 percent. About 21 percent said none of the candidates had good moral credentials or refused to answer. Regarding the controversy over the two front runners' family members, more than 56 percent of the respondents said the illegal gambling scandal of Lee's son will likely impact the outcome of the election. Some 66 percent said the scandal over the falsified resume of Yoon's wife could undermine his chances of winning. Thirty-seven percent said the current ruling party should stay in power. About 53 percent said the ruling party should be replaced. The mobile phone survey was conducted by Hankook Research at the request of KBS on 1,000 adults nationwide from Dec. 17 to 19. The response rate was 20.4 percent. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence. More information is available on the KBS website.