The race for the South Korean presidency is heating up in both the political and entertainment scene. As the upcoming presidential election is about half a year away, the presidential hopefuls are seeking to appeal with their personal sides to woo voters.

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung, the current ruling party front-runner, appeared in the latest episode of SBS’ Sunday reality show “Master in the House.”

“I realized there are many misunderstandings about me. I think this is a great chance to show who I really am. I actually have both timid and emotional sides,” Lee said on the show.

Asked why he decided to vie to be president by the hosts of the program, Lee said he felt a strong determination to change South Korea.

“Though my childhood was tough, I thought all people face their own difficulties and hardships. After I became a university student, I realized there are many social problems limiting the chances to become successful, in other words, making hard efforts turn out meaningless. I recognize some young Koreans call our country a ‘living hell.’ This needs to be changed,” Lee said in sharing his thoughts on the show.

Lee also answered various questions surrounding gossip concerning himself and other presidential hopefuls from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea.

Lee’s episode recorded the highest viewership among shows in its time slot, reaching 9 percent viewership, according to Nielsen Korea. It broke the record of last week’s episode with another presidential contender from the opposition People’s Power Party, Yoon Seok-youl, by 1.6 percentage points.

Meanwhile, the program had faced an injunction from the city of Namyangju in Gyeonggi Province on Friday to prevent the show from offering misleading information regarding Lee’s achievements surrounding the city’s valley maintenance, which was revealed in the program’s preview. The injunction was rejected, but discussion of the issue was nonetheless edited out.

Despite lingering controversy, Lee has gradually been extending his lead in the Democratic Party’s primaries over one of his strongest competitors, former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, with his latest victory in the North Jeolla Province primary.

“Master in the House” is scheduled to feature the three strongest candidates in the upcoming presidential election. The last episode of the election candidate series will bring on former Prime Minister Lee, and is scheduled to air on SBS at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday.

By Lee Si-jin (sj_lee@heraldcorp.com)