Meanwhile, Lee, the liberal, faces questions of whether he knew about or was involved in a snowballing real estate corruption scandal during his time as mayor of a town on the outskirts of Seoul.
By Im Eun-byel silverstar heraldcorp.
One feature to watch is candidate favourability in Seoul: In four of the last five elections, the most popular candidate in the national capital region — home to almost one-fifth of all South Korean citizens — has gone on to win the presidency.