Unpredictability prevailed in the third week of October as the presidential candidates continued to run neck-and-neck in two-way matchups while trading barbs over security, history and a possible alliance.

The ruling Saenuri Party’s flag bearer Rep. Park Geun-hye held on to her lead in a mock three-way race in various polls, but suffered further setbacks in one-on-ones against Rep. Moon Jae-in of the Democratic United Party and independent Ahn Cheol-soo.

The latest daily poll by Gallup Korea on Friday showed Park in the lead with 36 percent against Ahn’s 27 percent and Moon’s 20 percent.

In a two-way contest with Ahn, Park’s rating dropped to 43 percent from 46 percent the previous week, while Ahn’s rose slightly to 48 percent from 46 percent.

Against Moon, Park followed the former presidential chief-of-staff’s 46 percent with 45 percent.

The race between Moon and Ahn was even tighter, with the two each on 42 percent.

Around 900 respondents were surveyed daily, with the margin of error at plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.

Other polls showed similar outcomes with Park leading the pack of three but lagging behind Ahn in a two-way contest. Hankook Research’s survey showed Park following Ahn with 42.9 percent to 46.5 percent, and barely ahead of Moon with 44.7 percent to 43.9 percent. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percent for the survey on 1,000 respondents.

As the competition heated up, the candidates grew more vocal against each other.

Ahn, while enjoying a gradual popularity rise, proposed a television debate with Park and Moon last week.

Park, consumed by the controversy over Jeongsu Scholarship Foundation, turned down the offer, saying the debate should wait until the opposition finalizes their single candidacy. Moon welcomed the proposition, despite his struggle over the northern limit line dispute. If held, the three-way debate would be separate from the official series arranged by the National Election Commission. Three debates are scheduled in December by the NEC among the main presidential candidates, and another one among the minor candidates, who are without a partisan backing or show support of less than 5 percent.

Park and Moon fired salvos at each other over the alleged concession by former President Roh Moo-hyun on the de facto inter-Korean maritime border with North Korea during the 2007 inter-Korean summit. Park pressured Moon to clarify the matter on Friday, while Moon’s side said Park was behind the false accusation.

Moon, in turn, attacked Park over the Jeongsu Foundation’s alleged attempt to use its equity sale to help her campaign, commenting that no one would believe that Park was unconnected to the organization originally set up by her father.

Ahn, meanwhile, spoke up about the future of an alliance with Moon, telling reporters Friday that he intended to complete the race, whether by merging candidacy with Moon or individually.

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