Liberal presidential candidate Moon Jae-in’s monthslong lead in the polls may soon be over as support for centrist contender Ahn Cheol-soo increases.

The race, once thought to be an easy win for Moon, has turned into a nail-biter with Ahn’s formidable rise in popularity, according to public opinion surveys released Sunday and Monday.

Some poll results suggest Ahn has already overtaken Moon and is leading by 1 percentage point or more, while others still show Moon leading within the margin of error. Either way, support ratings for the two ranged between 35 and 40 percent.

Amid the alarm bells, Moon said Monday that his camp had fallen into the trap of complacency due to his No. 1 standing over the past several weeks. “We are obliged to offer a power transition to the people by suggesting a concrete vision for the nation,” he told his camp’s members.

“We should scrap the conceit and haughty attitude to win the election. It is time to be modest,” he said.

Moon also described the May 9 election as a battle against corrupt power with vested rights. He said a failure to change the power would mean the liberal Democratic Party of Korea has become a culprit.

Moon’s camp has asked for support from Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon as well as South Chungcheong Province Gov. An Hee-jung and Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung, both of whom were defeated by Moon in the Democratic Party’s primaries.

There is a high possibility that this week may determine Moon’s fate in the election. In the past, public surveys conducted one month before the presidential election mostly served as a barometer for the election result.

Former Presidents Park Geun-hye, Lee Myung-bak and Kim Dae-jung, who were front-runners in polls conducted one month before the elections, won in 2012, 2007 and 1997, respectively.

Former President Roh Moo-hyun also saw his support rating overtake then-rival Lee Hoi-chang after attaining a single candidacy about three or four weeks before the 2002 election.

Some political watchers say that Moon should refrain from vowing to remove “deep-rooted evils.” They claim that such comments by Moon are prompting many conservative voters to feel hostile toward the liberal candidate and make the strategic choice of supporting Ahn to prevent Moon’s victory.

The ongoing presidential race is different from past years. Ahn’s camp is estimated to have absorbed a certain proportion of liberal voters as well as swing voters and conservative voters. The liberal voters supporting Ahn may regard Moon as one of the few with “vested rights” in the political field.

“The boundary of evils that he (Moon) highlights should be narrowed and clearly explained to voters,” said a college professor who spoke on condition of anonymity.

As a concrete step, the professor suggested that Moon should pledge to take the initiative in looking into the alleged irregularities of the former Lee Myung-bak administration.

“In addition, Moon needs to ask Ahn as to whether he would turn up the heat on former President Lee if elected, in the coming TV debates,” he said.

There are worries among liberal voters supporting Ahn over the feasibility that Ahn would gloss over the improprieties of conservatives. They cite the four-river refurbishment project as a core policy failure of conservatives.

By Kim Yon-se ()


kys@heraldcorp.com