hankyoreh

By Kim Bo-hyup, staff writer

New Frontier Party (NFP) leader Park Geun-hye is enjoying a rise in support following the Apr. 11 general election, while her possible contenders for the presidency are facing a sharp decline. Alone among prospective candidates, professor and software mogul Ahn Chul-soo continues to enjoy strong support.

The Hankyoreh and the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KOSI) conducted a nationwide opinion poll Saturday in which participants were asked who they would vote for if the presidential election were the next day. 40.6% of respondents said they would vote for Park, while another 23.8% chose Ahn. Democratic United Party adviser Moon Jae-in was chosen by 11.1%.

The results indicate rises of 6.6 and 4.4 percent for Ahn and Park, respectively, from a regular survey conducted in March, and a 5.2 percent decline for Moon.

All other ruling and opposition party contenders had support ratings below 3%. Gyeonggi Gov. Kim Moon-soo, who declared his intention to run Sunday, received 2.6%. Next in line were Sohn Hak-kyu (DUP) with 1.6%, Chung Mong-joon (NFP) with 1.3%, Rhyu Si-min (UPP) with 1.2%, Chung Dong-young (DUP) and Lee Hoi-chang (LFP) with 0.9%, and Kim Doo-kwan (DUP) with 0.6%.

Park saw her support rating drop by about three percentage points in the greater Seoul area, but enjoyed sharp rises in Daejeon/Chungcheong (from 30.1% to 45.1%), Daegu/North Gyeongsang (55.3% to 62.9%), and Busan/Ulsan/South Gyeongsang (41.6% to 49.9%).

Moon’s ratings fell among respondents in every age group, with especially steep drops in Daejeon/Chungcheong (19.1% to 9.5) and the Yeongnam areas of Daegu/North Gyeongsang (13.1% to 4.5%) and Busan/Ulsan/South Gyeongsang (14.1% to 9.3%).

Meanwhile, Ahn‘s support ratings among respondents in their twenties to forties were up by around ten percentage points from the March survey, with an especially notable increase in the Honam region, from 25.1% to 41.2%.

KSOI chief analyst Yoon Hee-woong said the support ratings appeared to reflect the outcome of the recent elections.

“Park Geun-hye was active as a presidential hopeful as she spearheaded the NFP’s election campaign, while Moon Jae-in was stuck in Busan, which restricted his reach,” Yoon said. “It looks like opposition supporters have come to focus on Ahn Chul-soo‘s potential as an opposition presidential contender.”

Park was the overwhelming favorite among NFP candidates in the survey, chosen by 83.4% of respondents. Among DUP candidates, Moon received 43.5% and Sohn 15.5%.

In contrast, just 2.3% of respondents chose Ahn, indicating that they are not anticipating he will join the DUP and compete for the party’s candidacy.

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