hankyoreh

Ahn Chang-hyun, Staff Writer

Former Grand National Party Chairwoman Park Geun-hye continues her commanding lead among candidates for the 2012 presidential election according to various opinion polls conducted by press outlets for the New Year. Behind her is a second-place group including People’s Participation Party policy research institute head Rhyu Si-min, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, Democratic Party Chairman Sohn Hak-kyu, and Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Moon-soo.
According to polling results reported Saturday by five press outlets, Park was well ahead of the rest of the pack with a 30 to 40 percent supporting rating among 2012 presidential contenders. Her lowest rating, in the Seoul Shinmun, was 29.8 percent, while in an MBC poll she had passed the “40 percent wall” with a 42.3 percent support rating.
The contenders in the second place group, including Rhyu, Oh, Sohn, and Kim, all finished with roughly 5 to 9 percent support ratings, separated by differences of at most 2 percent points. In the different polls, Oh was less than a percentage point behind Rhyu, who is considered the leading opposition party contender, while Sohn placed around fourth or fifth.
Opinions regarding a hardline and conciliation toward North Korea were present in similar proportions. In a Munhwa Ilbo survey, some 52.2 percent called for “finding a solution through dialogue,” surpassing the 46.4 percent calling for “continued pressure against North Korea.” In a Hankook Ilbo poll, 51.2 percent said that it was necessary to "take a harder line than the present one," but this was not far behind the combined 45.1 percent who called for "being more moderate than the present" (24.7 percent) or "maintaining the current level" (20.4 percent).
MBC, which used a different format for posing questions, found 58.0 percent agreeing with the opinion that “hardline policy should be maintained militarily, but it should proceed in tandem with dialogue with North Korea.” In the same survey, only 18.5 percent answered in favor of “maintaining the current hardline policy,” while 22.0 percent called for “a shift toward policy of dialogue and compromise.”
In a Hankook Ilbo poll on the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project, 46.0 percent of respondents said the project should be reduced and slowed down. This was nearly twice the 24.5 percent who said it should be “carried out according to the plan.”

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