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With just over a month remaining before the June 3 presidential election, a major shift is reshaping the political landscape. The source of this shake-up is Acting President Han Duck-soo. A new poll found that if Han enters the race as an independent candidate, he would immediately secure 25 percent of voter support, creating a significant new variable.

According to a poll conducted by the Korea Opinion Public Reputation Analysis (KOPRA) at the request of Asia Today on April 25–26, surveying 2,005 eligible voters nationwide, Han achieved 25 percent support across three different hypothetical five-way race scenarios involving the Democratic Party, the People Power Party, the Reform Party, the Progressive Party, and independent candidate Han Duck-soo.

In the first scenario, where Kim Moon-soo is the People Power Party’s candidate, support levels were: Lee Jae-myung (Democratic Party) at 42 percent, Han Duck-soo (independent) at 25 percent, Kim Moon-soo (People Power Party) at 13 percent, Lee Jun-seok (Reform Party) at 7 percent, Kim Jae-yeon (Progressive Party) at 1 percent, and 13 percent responded "none" or "unsure."

In the second scenario, with Han Dong-hoon representing the People Power Party, the results were: Lee Jae-myung 43 percent, Han Duck-soo 25 percent, Han Dong-hoon 16 percent, Lee Jun-seok 6 percent, Kim Jae-yeon 1 percent, and 10 percent "none/unsure."

In the third scenario, featuring Hong Joon-pyo as the People Power Party candidate, Lee Jae-myung received 42 percent, Han Duck-soo 25 percent, Hong Joon-pyo 16 percent, Lee Jun-seok 6 percent, Kim Jae-yeon 2 percent, and 10 percent "none/unsure."

Overall, across all three five-way hypothetical matchups, support levels can be summarized as follows: Lee Jae-myung (Democratic Party) 42–43 percent, Han Duck-soo (independent) 25 percent, People Power Party candidates (Kim Moon-soo, Han Dong-hoon, or Hong Joon-pyo) 13–16 percent, Lee Jun-seok (Reform Party) 6–7 percent, and Kim Jae-yeon (Progressive Party) 1–2 percent.