A survey shows that the candidate from South Korea's largest opposition Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung, is the frontrunner with support of 51 percent in the country's presidential election.



The election is scheduled for June 3. Gallup Korea on Friday released the results of the first survey conducted after the finalization of candidates. The survey of 1,004 people took place over three days until Thursday.



In the survey, Kim Moon-soo, the candidate of the ruling People Power Party, trailed Lee with 29 percent support. Lee Jun-seok of the minor New Reform Party had support of 8 percent.



Among those who backed liberal candidate Lee Jae-myung, 13 percent each cited his ability to perform duties as well as hopes regarding his skills as factors behind their approval. Meanwhile, 20 percent of those supporting Kim cited his integrity and fairness.



Half of those who said they are not affiliated with any party did not commit themselves over who they support.



Attention is on whether either Kim or Lee of the New Reform Party will withdraw from the campaign to create a single conservative candidate. But there appears to be no such move yet.