Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl came second in a poll on potential presidential candidates in the 2022 race, joining the ranks of ruling Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yon and Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung.

In a survey of 2,538 Koreans aged 18 or above nationwide, conducted over five days from Nov. 23 by Realmeter, 19.8 percent picked Yoon as their preferred presidential candidate, up 2.6 percentage points since last month’s 17.2 percent, which was the highest since his name was first included in the poll in June.

The voter preference for Yoon, at the center of a saga of defiance against Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae, rose most sharply among respondents in Daegu-North Gyeongsang Province (+9.6 percentage points), Seoul (+3.9 percentage points), people in their 50s (+4.7 percentage points), conservatives (+3.5 percentage points) and centrists (+2.9 percentage points).

DP leader Lee Nak-yon maintained his top spot, with 20.6 percent, and Gov. Lee came third with 19.4 percent.

Yoon’s ratings rose mainly because Choo suspended Yoon from his duty, according to an analyst at Realmeter.

“Yoon appears to be the prop that represents the anti-Moon (Jae-in) sentiment at the antipode of the current administration,” said Bae Cheol-ho of Realmeter.

The poll, commissioned by Ohmynews, has a confidence level of 95 percent with a margin of error of 1.9 percentage points.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)