Rep. Park Geun-hye, interim leader of the ruling Saenuri Party, is ahead of entrepreneur-turned-professor Ahn Cheol-soo in recent popularity polls on potential presidents.

The polls indicated that she regained lost ground after helping the conservative party recover from corruption scandals and leading it to achieve an upset victory in the April general elections, analysts said.

In a poll by local pollster Media Research, Park garnered 47.2 percent, with Ahn at 42.1 percent in a one-on-one race. In a March survey conducted by the same pollster, Ahn led Park by 0.9 percentage point.

The local daily Chosun Ilbo commissioned the pollster to carry out the telephone survey last Saturday of 1,000 eligible voters around the country. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

In a separate survey by the pollster Realmeter, Park also led Ahn by 2.2 percentage points. Park gained 47.9 percent while Ahn got 45.7 percent. The telephone survey of 3,000 eligible voters was conducted last week. The margin of error was plus or minus 1.8 percentage points.

Until around last September, Park had led her potential competitors in most of the surveys.

But her popularity dwindled after some of the Saenuri lawmakers were implicated in a set of corruption allegations including a vote-buying scandal implicating former National Assembly Speaker Rep. Park Hee-tae.

Ahn, now dean of Seoul National University’s Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, has risen on the back of support from young voters and those who have been disenchanted with established politicians mired in relentless partisan fights.

Media Research’s poll also showed that in a multiple-candidate race, Park was in first place with 35.8 percent support, trailed by Ahn with 22 percent and Moon Jae-in, senior advisor to the main opposition Democratic United Party, with 9.6 percent.

The popularity of the ruling party has also risen to 40 percent for the first time since March 2008, the poll showed. The DUP gained 32.3 percent support while the Unified Progressive Party gained 5.9 percent.

In last month’s general elections, the Saenuri secured 150 parliamentary seats in the 300-member legislature while the DUP gained 127 seats. The UPP got 13 seats, becoming the third-largest party in the Assembly.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluckj@heraldcorp.com)