SEOUL, April 18 (UPI) — Lee Jae-myung, the polarizing former head of South Korea’s opposition Democratic Party, is maintaining a strong lead among potential candidates for a June snap election to replace impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, a new survey said Friday.

The poll, conducted by Gallup Korea, found Lee with 38% support — his highest rating among Gallup surveys this year. He remains well ahead of potential opponents from Yoon’s People Power Party, which will pick its candidate on May 3.

Former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo and former Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo both received 7% in the poll, as did current acting President Han Duck-soo. Han has not announced his intention to run, but the 75-year-old prime minister is seen by some conservatives as the candidate with the broadest appeal.

A handful of other potential PPP candidates polled in the low single digits. Overall, the Democratic Party had an approval rating of 42%, compared to the PPP’s 34%.

The election will be held on June 3.

Lee, who lost to Yoon in the 2022 presidential election by a razor-thin margin, rose to national fame as a progressive firebrand. As the mayor of Seongnam, a satellite city of Seoul, and then governor of Gyeonggi Province, he built a reputation as a hard-charging populist who was able to implement some of the country’s most ambitious social welfare programs.

While he inspires fierce loyalty from his core base of supporters, Lee draws equally impassioned contempt from conservative opponents and has long been shadowed by legal troubles. Last month, a court overturned Lee’s earlier conviction on an election law violation, but he is still facing criminal trials on charges including bribery and corruption.

In the wake of the Yoon martial law and impeachment saga that embroiled the country for four months, the political atmosphere in South Korea has grown even more divisive, and experts are calling for the next president to focus on unity and reconciliation.

“Lee Jae-myung is a polarizing figure,” Kang Won-taek, professor of political science and international studies at Seoul National University, said during a meeting with international media this week. “Without inclusive politics, the next administration may face renewed political conflict.”

Kang said he thought Lee’s campaign would work to target the moderate voters who are “getting lost in the political landscape.”

“I believe he will focus more on policy platforms to solve the immediate problems in our society rather than focusing on ideologies,” Kang said.

So far, Lee appears to be steering clear of further inflaming tensions. During his presidential bid announcement last week, he focused on economic recovery, saying that his administration would prioritize investments in science and technology aimed at helping small businesses.

On Friday, Lee campaigned in the Yeongam region — a conservative stronghold in the southeastern part of the country — where he outlined a number of plans to boost local development, such as moving the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to the port city of Busan.

The 61-year-old also vowed to revitalize the region’s traditional manufacturing industries, making the city of Ulsan a “hub of eco-friendly mobility” and transforming the surrounding areas into a “mecca of space, aviation, defense and smart shipbuilding industries.”

In a separate announcement Friday, Lee said he would increase government investment in South Korea’s culture industry, aiming to boost the value of hugely popular exports such as K-pop and K-dramas to $35 billion by 2030.

“We will give wings to the K-content boom created by those in the arts and culture industry,” he said.