Over the weekend, underdogs stepped up their offensives against Park, who is yet to formally announce her candidacy.

The former chairwoman is criticized for retreating behind her associates, such as with Supreme Council member Lee Jung-hyun acting as her spokesperson on thorny issues.

“It is now time for the candidates to sit down and confer instead of talking through their delegates,” said former presidential chief-of-staff Yim Tae-hee, one of the Saenuri’s presidential hopefuls, on Sunday.

Yim along with three other presidential hopefuls, Reps. Chung Mong-joon and Lee Jaeoh and Kim Moon-soo, have been demanding primary rule changes, contending the existing ones fall short of giving a wider chance for candidates with a weaker grip on the party.

While Park has remained mostly mute over the issue, pro-Park factionists have repeatedly shunned the demand citing lack of time and potential risks an open primary may bring, such as crossover voting.

The main opposition Democratic United Party floor leader Park Jie-won jumped into the fray by criticizing Park and warned they could work on open primary bills once the National Assembly opens.

“Is Rep. Park delaying the opening of the National Assembly because she is afraid of having the open primary law passed?” he said on Twitter on Saturday.

The new Assembly has been out of business for nearly a month as the rival parties remain at loggerheads over the formation of the standing committees.

“(Once the Assembly opens) we can seek consensus on the open primary bills submitted by the ruling and opposition party members and pass them,” Park added.

The Saenuri Party’s Rep. Kim Yong-tae submitted last month a revision to the Public Official Election Act to enable votes by non-party citizens to elect a party’s presidential runner under the supervision of the National Election Commission. 

Kim’s bill was signed by 12 Saenuri lawmakers including Chung Mongjoon, Lee Jae-oh, Shim Jae-chul and Chung Doo-un.

The DUP is reportedly preparing its own version. Chung Mong-joon also reiterated his criticism of Park’s stance on the issue.

“It is utterly unfathomable how we cannot even set up an independent consultative body (to discuss primary rules), all the while failing to correct even one word of the regulations of the old Grand National Party,” Chung said in a press conference Sunday.

The Saenuri’s leadership has been persuading the dissenting members to discuss the primary rules at the Supreme Council, instead of setting up an exclusive body.

The dissenters have claimed the leadership was attempting to maintain control over the debate by restricting the arena of discussion.

The latest set of public polls, meanwhile, showed Park Geunhye’s lead faltering.

In the polls by Gallup Korea on 1,214 respondents, Park’s support ratings fell from 38 percent to 35 percent.

The polls by Real Meter of 1,500 respondents showed Seoul National University professor Ahn Cheol-soo at 48 percent compared to Park’s 47.1 percent in a hypothetical one-on-one race.

The gap, however, was within the margin of error. The DUP’s Moon Jae-in was also seen fast catching up Park by receiving 41.3 percent against Park’s 48.2 percent in the simulated one-on-one race.

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