A new poll released Thursday shows that main opposition People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Suk Yeol is leading his ruling Democratic Party rival Lee Jae-myung outside the margin of error.

The joint poll conducted by KBS, MBC and SBS asked over two-thousand people which candidate they would vote for if the election was held the next day. Having taken place on Tuesday and Wednesday, before the merger of Yoon's candidacy with Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor People's Party, the survey still included Ahn as a candidate.

The poll was effectively the last public survey before the election as media outlets were prohibited from releasing new public opinion polls related to the election from Thursday.

Forty-two-point-one percent chose PPP candidate Yoon while 37-point-one percent opted for the DP candidate Lee. Yoon is in the lead by five percentage points, which is outside the margin of error.

In the poll, Ahn secured seven-point-four percent while Sim Sang-jung of the progressive Justice Party garnered one-point-eight percent.

Eighty-eight-point-eight percent of the respondents said they would continue their support for their chosen candidates.

When respondents were asked which candidate is most likely to win, 47-point-one percent of the respondents chose Yoon, while 41-point-three percent backed Lee.

Fifty-four-point-five percent of the respondents supported a transfer of power.

Some 88 percent of the respondents said they will certainly vote in the election.

As for the current administration, the approval rating for President Moon Jae-in stood at 43-point-four percent.

The poll, commissioned by the three broadcasters and conducted by three pollsters - Ipsos, Hankook Research and Korea Research International - has a 95 percent confidence level with a margin of error of plus or minus two-point-two percentage points.

The poll questions and results are available on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.