Saenuri Party leader Park Geun-hye successfully fended off a commanding advance by the main opposition Democratic United Party in the general election Wednesday despite a spate of scandals afflicting the ruling party.

The surprise upturn is likely to give Park, 60, a boost in her bid for the presidency with reinforced political clout and public acquiescence of her leadership skills.

Park is also expected to enjoy a sturdier support base inside Saenuri since she left the helm of the party five and a half years ago upon a painful dispute between two factions ― one supporting Park and the other President Lee Myung-bak.

But the early exposure of her leadership may augment the burden of keeping her lead in popularity polls, in addition to having to fight off elevated offensives from the opposition forces, political pundits said.

“Park’s challenges will include warding off various issues raised about her, as well as navigating Saenuri through crucial agenda like the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement against the opposition forces in the new National Assembly,” said Yoon Seong-yi, a political science professor at Kyung Hee University.

The presidential race, however, is not expected to take shape for some time, as Park’s biggest potential contenders, the Democratic United Party’s Moon Jae-in and Seoul National University dean Ahn Cheol-soo, will take more time before, or if, they jump into the race, Yoon predicted.

For now, her leadership which was abruptly put to the test in December last year when she took the helm of the party as emergency council leader looks successful, observers said.

Park’s ability to rescue the party from crisis was witnessed in 2004, when the then-Grand National Party saw its approval plunge due to a backlash from its push for the impeachment of late President Roh Moo-hyun, and an illegal political funding scandal.

She vowed to “return to basics” with the GNP and eventually helped the party scrape up 121 seats in the 299-member assembly.

For the past four months, Park has been pressing for a complete overhaul of the ruling party, which was hit by a scandal when aides to a party lawmaker allegedly masterminded a cyber attack on the election watchdog website to affect the results of the Seoul mayoral by-election last October.

The 14-year political veteran shifted the focus of the party platform to welfare, changed the party name and nominated new faces, dropping many incumbent lawmakers.

During the process, Park’s reform drive often hit hurdles including the revelation of a 2008 vote buying scandal at the GNP national convention and backlash from neglected party members.

Park crisscrossed the country, rallying crowds of voters for Saenuri candidates throughout the campaigning period, and visited key battlegrounds multiple times.

She ran as a proportional representative candidate, foregoing her loyal constituency in Daegu, a move reminiscent of 1992 when then-presidential hopefuls Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung departed their constituencies to run in the parliamentary elections ahead of their presidential bid. Kim Young-sam won the presidency a year later, followed by Kim Dae-jung five years later.

One of Park’s weakest points is said to be her relationship with the Chungsoo scholarship foundation, which was established with coerced “donations” during the dictatorship of late President Park Chung-hee, her father. Park maintains that she has nothing to do with the foundation as she resigned as its chairwoman in 2005.

While her background as the eldest daughter of Park Chung-hee may be of help in securing her conservative supporters’ votes, it is a chronic constraint to winning more progressive votes.

Her other tasks may include softening her image as a strict woman of principle and fulfilling her liberal welfare pledges, political pundits said.

This year would mark her second presidential bid on the ticket of the ruling party after she lost to President Lee in the 2007 nomination.

Born to Park Chung-hee and Yook Young-soo in 1952, Park Geun-hye spent most of her childhood in Cheong Wa Dae while her father ruled the country under his military regime from 1961 to 1979. Park formally began her political career by joining the GNP in 1998 and winning a seat in a by-election in Daegu, Gyeongsang Province. Park is a fourth-term lawmaker.

By Lee Joo-hee (jhl@heraldcorp.com)