Front-runner reacts strongly to opinion poll predicting defeat by centrist Ahn
Moon Jae-in, the liberal front-runner in the race for the presidential office, is being attacked from all sides, as negative campaigns mount with just five weeks to the polls.
The Democratic Party of Korea’s candidate, who had refrained from responding to consecutive jabs from opponents, Tuesday reacted strongly to an opinion poll predicting his defeat to centrist rival Ahn Cheol-soo.
“Experts are wary of the possibility of surveys designed to highlight a specific candidate manipulating or distorting public opinion,” Moon’s campaign spokesperson Rep. Park Kwang-on said, officially raising an issue with the poll’s credibility.
He added that the poll’s credibility is further damaged by the fact that the Democratic Party’s support rating was shown to be up to 20 percentage points lower than in other surveys.
“In this regard, a National Election Survey Deliberation Commission investigation is needed, and the camp plans to request a review by the National Election Commission.”
The survey in question was conducted by research firm Opinion and was published by local daily Naeil Shinmun on Monday. Its results showed that should the presidential election come down to a two-way race between Moon and Ahn, the latter would win by a margin of more than 7 percentage points.
It was the first in at least 10 weeks to project Moon’s loss in a hypothetical race.
A Gallup Korea poll, conducted before Moon won the Democratic Party’s primary race, placed Moon in the lead with 31 percent, followed by Ahn with 19 percent. At the time, An Hee-jung and Lee Jae-myung were still in the running for the Democratic Party’s candidacy, respectively commanding 14 percent and 8 percent support.
The People’s Party, for its part, hit back, accusing Moon of pursuing a hegemony.
“The people must choose between a hegemonic leader of the past, and a leader of the future,” People’s Party Chairman Rep. Park Jie-won said.
Saying the poll results speak for themselves, he added the Democratic Party believes every party other than itself to be a representation of the accumulated wrongs of Korean society.
For Moon’s campaigners, the poll in question appears to have hit a nerve already made raw by continuous attacks from both within and outside the party.
In April alone, the Bareun Party, Liberty Korea Party and People’s Party have issued at least 15 statements aimed directly at highlighting alleged faults in Moon’s actions in both personal and public domains.
One of the main issues being raised against Moon concern the alleged irregularities in his son’s career. His opponents claim his son was given special treatment in applying to and working for the Korea Employment Information Service.
Moon has also been under fire from Kim Chong-in, formerly a chief of a predecessor to the Democratic Party as well as an aide to Park Geun-hye’s presidential campaign.
Kim, who purportedly plans to announce his bid for the presidency Wednesday, has stated that Moon lacks decision-making skills, and that he lost the belief that Moon was “honest and good” while working with him.
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
