With the United Nations’ Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon eyeing a return to his home country with a potential bid for next year’s presidential election, rival parties are scrambling to capitalize the situation in their favor amid political turmoil over President Park Geun-hye’s corruption scandal. 

The ruling Saenuri Party’s divided factions -- Park’s loyalists and their dissenters -- are competing to put the world’s top diplomat on their ticket, in an apparent effort to boost their record-low approval rating following the scandal that led to the passage of the impeachment motion against Park.

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, on the other hand, has stepped up its attacks against Ban’s presidential bid, casting the UN chief as an establishment politician without a blueprint for overhauling dysfunctional politics.

“I think that Ban’s success was largely under the old-fashioned, established order. I doubt he would take the call for change seriously,” said Democratic Party’s former leader Rep. Moon Jae-in. A survey conducted by local pollster Realmeter showed Moon to be outrun by Ban in terms of approval rating for the 2017 race.

The main opposition party’s criticism reflected the growing level of scrutiny faced by the 72-year-old career diplomat, who has recently become more vocal about his post-UN plans, but still remains ambiguous on his presidential bid.

On Friday, weekly magazine Sisa Journal reported that when Ban served as foreign minister in 2005 and UN chief in 2007, he received a kickback worth more than $230,000 from Park Yeon-cha, a businessman who had been arrested for giving illicit money to the late President Roh Moo-hyun.

The Democratic Party urged prosecutors to investigate Ban, but the businessman Park and Ban’s aides denied the accusation, saying the report was an attempt to slander them. They also vowed to take legal action against the magazine.

A day earlier, Stephane Dujarric, a spokesperson for the UN chief, said in a statement the report against Ban was “completely false and groundless” and that Ban will demand the media outlet issue an apology and drop the story.

“Ban never met Park at that time and has never seen him since. During his tenure as a public official, Ban has never taken any bribes. It’s regrettable to see such a malignant report,” said officials working for Ban in a statement distributed to reporters Saturday.

With less than a week left before Ban finishes his term at the UN, speculation has been rife about which political parties he would represent if he confirms his bid for the presidential election after his term ends Saturday. 

Long considered a favorite for Park and her loyalists for the 2017 race, Ban has set himself apart from the pro-Park group since public outrage erupted over the corruption scandal tied to Park’s confidante Choi Soon-sil.

Instead, Ban has drawn support from anti-Park Saenuri bigwigs, who have vowed to leave Saenuri this Tuesday and form a new conservative party in January. They had clashed with the pro-Park faction over control of the party after they joined the opposition parties in impeaching the president earlier this month.

“If Ban comes to Korea, we will introduce him to our party and have him compete with other candidates by holding a fair primary,” former Saenuri Floor Leader Rep. Yoo Seong-min, a leading figure among Park’s dissenters, said when asked about whether the new party would work with Ban for the presidential election.

Polls conducted by Joongang Ilbo also showed Saturday that Ban would choose the new conservative party over Saenuri, with 32.7 percent of respondents saying that Ban would join the new party. Only 19 percent said he would select Saenuri, while 4.3 and 6 percent said he would choose the Democratic Party and People’s Party, respectively.

“I don’t think Ban would join political parties immediately upon his return to Korea,” said Realmeter Director Lee Taek-soo. “Ban’s choice will determine the outcome of rivalry between Saenuri and the new conservative party.” 

By Yeo Jun-suk (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)