Moon Jae-in, the liberal opposition’s rising presidential candidate, passed his first test in politics, winning a parliamentary seat in the conservative stronghold of Busan.

Moon of the main opposition Democratic United Party scored a comfortable victory against Son Su-jo of the governing Saenuri Party in the city’s industrial district of Sasang. 

Just before midnight, when nearly 95 percent of votes had been counted, Moon garnered 54.7 percent of the vote against Son’s 44.3 percent.

The 59-year-old political novice had tried to turn the Saenuri heartland into a key battleground in this election.

“The wind is blowing. A different wind. I feel it,” he tweeted, after he wrapped up a 13-day campaign on midnight Tuesday. He had asked voters to pass judgment on the administration of President Lee Myung-bak and his Saenuri Party.

He managed to bring a wind of change to Busan, something that no liberal politician, even former president Roh Moo-hyun, had succeeded in doing before.

In six neighboring constituencies, candidates of the DUP, or its alliance partner the Unified Progressive Party, were neck-and-neck with their Saenuri rivals, although just one managed to win.

Cho Kyoung-tae defeated his Saenuri rival in the Saha-B district.

“Depending on the scale of the liberal surge in Busan, Moon could see his standing inside the party boosted,” said Kim Tae-il, a professor of politics at Yeungnam University. “He could emerge as a strong presidential candidate.”

The Busan poll could serve as a springboard for Moon to make a presidential bid, other pundits also said.

A lifelong friend and aide to Roh and now head of a foundation named after him, Moon is already a leading presidential candidate within the DUP.

Yet, many liberal voters, and even some DUP members, are not yet convinced that he could be a match for Park Geun-hye, Saenuri Party’s chief and most likely presidential candidate, political pundits said.

Opinion polls of potential presidential candidates show that Ahn Cheol-soo, a software guru-turned professor, stands a better chance of beating Park.

The star venture entrepreneur beat Park with 47.8 percent to 45.3 percent in a hypothetical matchup, showed a survey released last week by local firm Realmeter.

Moon, if he goes head to head with the Saenuri chair, would trail her with 42.6 percent to 48.9 percent, the poll found.

Ahn, who appears centrist or center-left at heart, has no party affiliation. He has yet to declare a presidential run, although he is widely seen to be preparing for it.

Moon, meanwhile, dropped the biggest hint at a presidential run earlier this week.

Appearing on an anti-President Lee political podcast, he said that his political ambition is not confined to a legislative job.

“I didn’t start politics just to become a parliamentarian,” he said on “Naneun Ggomsuda.”

“I will devote myself to changing our politics.”

The election to pick the next president will be in December, but the race is expected to start with the end of the general election.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)