Former prime minister leads by double digits in DP race for party chief

Former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok is leading his rivals for party leader by double digits ahead of the ruling Democratic Party's (DP) national convention slated for next week, a poll showed Tuesday.

The Realmeter survey showed that 46.8 percent favored Kim, followed by former DP leaders Jung Chung-rae and Song Young-gil at 35.2 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively.

The remaining 11.5 percent of respondents said they did not favor any of the candidates or were undecided.

Kim was also the most preferred candidate among dues-paying party members with 51.8 percent, followed by Jung at 41.1 percent and Song at 4.7 percent.

His lead was more pronounced in the DP's traditional stronghold of the southwestern region, where he received 57.7 percent support, compared with 28.2 percent for Jung and 6.8 percent for Song.

Kim and Jung were in a tighter race in Seoul, with Kim still ahead at 39.9 percent and Jung trailing with 34.5 percent. Song stood at 5.1 percent.

The survey was conducted on Sunday and Monday on 1,053 DP supporters and those with no party affiliation. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.

The DP is set to hold its national convention on Monday to elect its new leader, who will play a key role in overseeing the nomination of candidates for the parliamentary elections in April 2028.

Yonhap