(LEAD) Surveys show mixed results for rival presidential candidates

All News 13:50 February 28, 2022

(ATTN: ADDS another Realmeter survey results in paras 6-8, details in last para)

SEOUL, Feb. 28 (Yonhap) -- Opinion polls released Monday showed mixed results for rival presidential candidates Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Suk-yeol as they strive to woo swing voters in a tight race with the election just nine days away.

Polls released by Realmeter and the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI) showed Yoon of the main opposition People Power Party is leading Lee of the ruling Democratic Party within the margin of error, while another KSOI survey showed Lee is leading Yoon outside the margin of error.

In a Realmeter poll conducted on 1,009 people on Saturday and Sunday, Yoon earned 46.1 percent, up 0.5 percentage point from its previous survey, while Lee gained 1.7 percentage points to score 41 percent.

The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points with a 95 percent confidence level.

In the same survey, Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the minor opposition People's Party, posted 7.9 percent, while Sim Sang-jeung of the minor progressive Justice Party earned 2.5 percent.

In the other Realmeter poll conducted on 2,052 people between Thursday and Sunday, Yoon garnered 42 percent, up 0.1 percentage point, while Lee earned 39.5 percent, down 1 point.

The gap between Yoon and Lee was within the margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percent at a 95 percent confidence level.

In the same poll, Ahn posted 8.6 percent followed by Sim at 1.8 percent.

In a KSOI poll conducted on 1,000 people on Friday and Saturday, Yoon received 45 percent, while Lee posted 43.2 percent.

The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points with a 95 percent confidence level.

In the same poll, Ahn earned 5.9 percent, while Sim scored 1.5 percent.

In the other KSOI survey conducted on 1,005 people on Friday and Saturday, however, Lee received 43.8 percent, while Yoon earned 36.1 percent. In the same survey, Ahn and Sim earned 7.3 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively.

Pollsters telephoned respondents in the second KSOI survey, while the first Realmeter and first KSOI surveys used an automatic response system. The second Realmeter poll used a mixture of a telephone survey and an automatic response system.