Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Thursday vowed his best efforts to bring unity to the divided nation, rekindling speculations on his likely bid in the upcoming presidential election.

“It is regrettable that the recent set of events divided public sentiment and increased tension, triggering hostility among people,” Hwang said during a national prayer breakfast meeting.

“The government and I shall make the best efforts to bring unity to the people, through active communication with various sectors of society.”
 
He attended the meeting on behalf of President Park Geun-hye, whose powers are suspended until the Constitutional Court’s final ruling on her impeachment trial, expected to be delivered on March 10 or 13.

Should the court uphold the ouster of the suspended president, the nation will face an earlier-than-planned presidential election within 60 days.

During the religious gathering, the acting president made few remarks on current issues, but his presence itself was viewed in a political light.

Since it was initiated by Christian leaders in 1968, the national prayer meeting has always involved the attendance of the sitting president, regardless of his or her religion. The most committed to the occasion was former President Lee Myung-bak, who was a council member of a Presbyterian church.

Consisting of religious leaders and a number of high-profile Christian figures, the meeting has often functioned as a place of social communication for state leaders.

But due to her suspension, President Park became the second president to be absent from the event.

The other was former President Roh Moo-hyun, who also faced an impeachment trial in 2004 for an alleged breach of political neutrality. The liberal president, however, was reinstated later upon the court’s dismissal of the charges.

Some observers claimed that Hwang’s presence and speech at the event could be a run-up to his presidential aspiration, highlighting his recently increasing public appearances as the president’s proxy.

On the previous day, which marked the nation’s 98th Independence Movement Day, Hwang deplored the nation’s divide and vowed stern action against North Korea’s provocations -- messages which would normally come from a state chief.

Meanwhile, the acting president saw some rise in his support rating, catching up with South Chungcheong Gov. An Hee-jung.

According to a survey conducted by pollster Realmeter, Hwang’s support rating stood at 14.6 percent in the first week of March, up 3.7 percentage points on-week.

His liberal rival An gained 14.5 percent, down 4.4 percentage points during the same period. The front-runner was once again Moon Jae-in, former head of the Democratic Party of Korea, who recorded 35.2 percent of support.

The prime minister’s slight rise in polls was largely attributable to conservative voters who welcomed his decision to reject the extension of the special investigation into President Park’s corruption scandal.


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