Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, smiles after participating in a vote to impeach acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo at the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday. Newsis

Despite standing trial for 12 criminal charges, including an election law violation for which he was convicted seven weeks ago, Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), remains a heavy favorite to win the next presidential election, according to the latest poll by The Korea Times.

About 35 percent of the respondents said they would support Lee, far ahead of his potential rivals such as Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo (7 percent), former People Power Party (PPP) leader Han Dong-hoon (5 percent) and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon (4 percent) among others, the poll showed.

His support is particularly strong among DPK supporters (71 percent), voters in their 40s (43 percent) as well as those who live in Jeolla provinces (53 percent), a longtime stronghold for liberal parties.

Han, once a dominant leading contender of the conservative party, apparently lost popularity after months of friction with President Yoon Suk Yeol. Meanwhile, Hong, who defended the president over many controversial issues including his martial law decision, emerged to take the lead.

National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik was the second favorite among DPK contenders, with 4 percent choosing him. Woo came to the spotlight after showing leadership to rescind Yoon's martial law decree shortly after its imposition on late Dec. 3. Gyeonggi Gov. Kim Dong-yeon, another DPK heavyweight, was just behind him at 3 percent.

Asked what qualities and skills they were looking for in presidential candidates, 33 percent said they would prioritize the ability to understand the economy, followed by leadership (22 percent), the ability to cooperate with other parties holding different views (18 percent), ethics (17 percent) and ideological orientation (8 percent).

The poll showed that young people, aged between 18 and 29, particularly value the ability to understand the economy, with 49 percent picking it as their priority.

Yet once push comes to shove, one — possibly a new contender not mentioned in the polls — could emerge to challenge Lee's dominance, given that 34 percent said they did not want to vote for any of those mentioned in the list or gave no response.

Another indicator of this possibility is the gap between the approval ratings for the DPK (39 percent) and the PPP (25 percent), which may not be a wide enough margin to signal Lee's dominance.

It is also possible that Lee may be banned from running for public office. Under the Supreme Court's guidelines, the trial for his election law violation is expected to finish five months from now. If it is upheld by the appeals and the top court, he will be stripped of the right to run for public office for 10 years. This will mean a de facto end to the 61-year-old's political career.

The Korea Times commissioned this survey to gauge public sentiment. Hankook Research surveyed 1,000 adults in phone interviews on Thursday and Friday. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, with a credibility rate of 95 percent. Further details are available on the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission's website.