Software guru-turned-professor Ahn Cheol-soo has reached a “critical point” to decide whether to run in the December presidential election, a politician close to him said Friday.

The remarks by Kim Hyo-seok, former third-term lawmaker of the main opposition Democratic United Party, came as the public grows weary of Ahn’s vague, indecisive position.

“He himself has been agonizing over (the timing), but it is not a matter he can delay for too long. (He) may declare his bid in the near future, I guess,” Kim said in a radio interview.

Known to have close ties with Ahn, Kim defended the potential candidate, saying that his delay stems from his wish to maintain a “prudent, responsible attitude.”

As Ahn has yet to jump into the presidential race, a series of negative allegations against him including his past visit to a lavish bar, have been raised. His supporters say they are part of the mudsling campaigns by his political foes while others argue that they are part of the vetting process.

Political analysts say that in actuality, Ahn has already been in the political arena given a series of his recent remarks and moves that apparently indicate his desire for presidency.

Recent surveys show that the ruling Saenuri Party’s presidential candidate Park Geun-hye is slightly ahead of Ahn. In a one-on-one survey conducted by the pollster Media Research on Monday, Park garnered 48.1 percent support, 2.8 percentage points more than Ahn.

Scoring 46.4 percent, Park was 2 percentage points behind Ahn in last month’s survey conducted by the same pollster.

(sshluck@heraldcorp.com)