hankyoreh

By Ahn Chang-hyun, staff reporter

With just over 70 days left until December’s presidential election, Park Geun-hye could be approaching a red light on her road to the presidency. Polling results have the New Frontier Party (NFP) candidate trailing both Ahn Cheol-soo and Democratic United Party candidate Moon Jae-in in head-to-head races - the former by a hefty margin of 10 percentage points.

The survey, commissioned by the Hankyoreh and carried out by the polling organization Research Plus, questioned 1,300 adults nationwide on Oct. 5 and 6. The results showed Park a full 10.1 percentage points behind the AhnLab founder and independent candidate in a two-way race, earning 42.1% of votes to his 52.2%.

In a two-way race with Moon, Park earned 46.2% of votes, putting her 2.5 percentage points behind his 48.7%. That difference fell within the margin of error.

63.7% of respondents said they would like to see a new party take power, compared to 31.8% who wanted the NFP reelected.

Park did come out on top in a three-candidate scenario, taking 35.3% of votes to Ahn’s 25.4% and Moon’s 24.6%. She was also the clear favorite when respondents were asked who was most likely to actually be elected, with 46.8% giving her name compared to 20.8% naming Moon and 19.9% naming Ahn.

Moon led Ahn by around 10 percentage points when respondents were asked who would be better as a single opposition candidate, earning 49.8% of votes to Ahn’s 39.7%. But a majority of respondents - 58.1% - said the DUP’s reforms were being “handled poorly.”

Ahn has said that he would only agree on a deal to field a single opposition candidate if the DUP undertakes reforms.

Ahn’s name was given by 35.1% of respondents when asked which candidate would do the best job of achieving economic democracy, and 37.6% of them when asked who would be best at political reforms, making him the first place finisher among candidates in both areas.

The survey had a margin of error of 2.7 percentage points and a 95% confidence level.

　

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