More than half of South Koreans believe that ruling Democratic Party(DP) presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung deliberately intervened in the controversial Seongnam land development project while he was mayor. 

In a Gallup Korea poll of one-thousand adults from Tuesday to Thursday, 55 percent of respondents said Lee likely interfered, granting favoritism to private investors. Thirty percent, on the other hand, said there likely was no intent.

Seventy-eight percent of conservatives suspected Lee's intentional role, with 58 percent of moderates believing the same. Among liberals, 61 percent didn’t think Lee deliberately intervened.

Meanwhile, 65 percent said a special counsel investigation was necessary, against 25 percent who said it wasn't.

Among supporters for the main opposition People Power Party(PPP), 91 percent called for the special probe, with only 41 percent of DP supporters calling for one and 69 percent of moderates.

The survey had a confidence level of 95 percent with a margin of error of plus or minus three-point-one percentage points.