S.Korea's top presidential candidate in the clear

By Yoo Choonsik

SEOUL (Reuters) - The favorite to be South Korea's next president looked even more certain on Wednesday of winning this month's election after prosecutors cleared him of allegations of fraud.

The result of the probe into securities fraud, broadcast live on national television, removes what political analysts said was the only obstacle to Lee Myung-bak winning the December 19 election to become the first conservative president in a decade of Asia's fourth largest economy.

"(We) have found no evidence supporting suspicion that Lee Myung-bak was involved in stock price manipulation," prosecutor Kim Hong-il told a nationally televised news conference.

"Therefore there is no indictment against him."

Lee was cleared of two other fraud allegations.

"Basically, I see Lee Myung-bak as having won the presidential race," said Jeong Chan-soo, executive director at policy research division at MIN Consulting.

"There seems to be no reason for Lee's approval rating, currently already at 40 percent, to fall any more, especially after today's announcement."

Opinion polls consistently put Lee more than 20 percentage points ahead of his nearest rival, a more right-wing conservative, and far ahead of the politically liberal heirs of outgoing and unpopular President Roh Moo-hyun.