Former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon for the first time took the lead against minor opposition People’s Party chief Ahn Cheol-soo in a public poll regarding Seoul Mayor contenders from the opposition bloc. 

Hankook Research asked 800 adults in Seoul on Monday and Tuesday to choose between Ahn and Oh as an opposition bloc candidate and 38-point-four percent picked Oh as their favorite as opposed to Ahn’s 38-point-three percent. 

Around 18 percent said they don’t know or didn’t respond while the remaining five percent or so said they have yet to pick a favorite candidate. 

Although the difference of zero-point-one percentage point is well within the margin of error of plus or minus three-point-five percentage points with a confidence level of 95 percent, it is the first time Oh came ahead of Ahn in similar surveys. 

The two recently entered negotiations on fielding a single opposition candidate ahead of the Seoul mayoral election next month following a series of polls strongly suggesting that only a unified contender will give the opposition bloc a chance to beat ruling Democratic Party candidate Park Young-sun. 

Oh was selected as the main opposition People Power Party’s candidate to run in the by-election after he defeated former four-term lawmaker Na Kyung-won during the party's primary earlier this month.