With a week remaining until the election day, Democratic United Party presidential candidate Moon Jae-in further narrowed the gap with his Saenuri Party rival Park Geun-hye, some of the last polls to be released showed Wednesday.

The survey by Munhwa Ilbo and Korea Research conducted on 1,000 respondents on Tuesday showed that Park was leading Moon by 0.9 percentage point, at 42.8 percent to 41.9 percent. Of the respondents, 13.9 percent said they either had no specific preference or did not give an answer. The gap between the two had been around 1.6 percentage points in the same survey conducted on Sept. 24, before further widening to 3.1 percentage points on Oct. 30-31.

Among the 89.9 percent of “avid voters” who said they will definitely vote, Park led Moon by just 1.3 percentage points.

The last batch of surveys spells a knife-edge race to Cheong Wa Dae with unpredictability further augmented by the successful long-range rocket launch by North Korea on Wednesday. Any new surveys on the candidates will be banned for release starting Thursday.

Another survey by DongA Ilbo and Research & Research conducted on 1,000 adults on Tuesday also showed Moon closing in on Park with 41.4 percent to 45.3 percent.

Among those who are certain to vote, 49.0 percent supported Park, while 41.4 percent backed Moon, with the gap being 7.6 percentage points. The gap narrowed from 8.6 percentage points a week before.

With their support ratings running close, the campaigns became muddier as the camps locked horns over the DUP’s fresh allegation that a member of the National Intelligence Agency attempted to manipulate Internet comments against Moon under orders.

The Saenuri Party and the NIS both strongly denied the allegation, vowing to take legal measures against the DUP for attempting to search the residence of the official under false accusations.

The DUP countered by filing a charge against the NIS with the police in the afternoon for violating relevant laws, claiming they have secured due evidence.

Meanwhile, the candidates continued their rallies across the nation, with both stopping over in Chungcheong Province, which is considered to hold the key casting votes.

Park visited Ulsan, North Gyeongsang Province and North Chungcheong Province, stopping at a shopping district and the regional office of the country’s flagship labor group to put emphasis on becoming a “prepared president.”

Moon began his tour in Cheongju, traveling around Chungcheong Province throughout the day and ending his schedule in Gyeonggi Province, in his last-minute efforts to galvanize voters in his favor.

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