Moon Jae-in of the liberal opposition Democratic United Party on Friday strived to carry, into the election day, his “upward momentum” against rival Park Geun-hye, canvassing in the conservative hotbed of Busan.

The DUP, meanwhile, revved up its assault on Park and her ruling Saenuri Party over illicit campaigning, accusing the conservative camp of attempting to sway voter sentiment through illegal methods. 

“It turned out that the Saenuri Party established an illegal office and manipulated public opinion in a systematic manner,” said Lee In-young, one of Moon’s campaigning chiefs, on Friday.

“The Saenuri’s act of kicking off an illegal campaign office is a defiance of democracy. The DUP shall not overlook it.”

The National Election Commission decided to indict a Saenuri official identified by his surname Yoon, for secretly running an online campaigning team to post comments in favor of Park.

“Through an all-night investigation, we have confirmed the illegality in Yoon’s organization,” an official of the election watchdog said Friday.

The DUP’s spokesperson Park Yong-jin also demanded that Park apologize, citing the apparent ties between the violator and the ruling party.

The party also accuses the National Intelligence Service of working for the incumbent administration and the Saenuri Party in the election, in violation of laws.

The police and the DUP raided the residence of an NIS employee on Tuesday, suspecting that she had covertly been spreading rumors against Moon. The conservative camp, however, denounced the probe as an exercise of coercion and an infringement of the employee’s human rights.

Moon’s aides also stepped out to counterattack Park, who held an urgent press conference on Friday morning and pledged to root out the DUP’s mudslinging.

“Park should have offered her apology over the scandals but instead, she decided to slander Moon in order to save her own skin,” said Rep. Chung Sye-kyun, the party’s senior adviser and former chief.

Chung also claimed that Moon had turned the tide and that he was gaining the upper hand over Park in their tight two-way race.

The detailed figures, however, may not be revealed as the law bans the announcement of new presidential poll results during the last week before the election.

While his camp officials stepped up their offensive, candidate Moon spent the day in South Gyeongsang Province, or the Yeongnam region, which is considered a key variable factor in next week’s race.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)