Chough Maintains Firm Lead in DP Race
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
Presidential contender Chough Soon-hyung of the Democratic Party (DP) asserted Friday that there is no doubt that he will win the party nomination as his support is far ahead of the remaining candidates.
``The game is over and my supremacy in the polls will never be changed until the primary,'' Chough said.
Party officials confirmed that Chough's ratings are far ahead of runner-up Rep. Rhee In-je.
A recent poll of 514 citizens gave Chough support of 39.2 percent with Rhee a distant second at 12.7 percent.
Party insiders also said Rep. Rhee and former lawmaker Kim Min-seok are second rankers, far behind in the competition.
The five DP presidential contenders vowed to boost the economy in a debate aired by Internet media last week.
Chough claimed that if elected he would create a corporate-friendly environment which will eventually help create more jobs.
Rhee also vowed to stimulate corporate investment.
The two other contenders are former DP Chairwoman Chang Sang and Shin Kook-hwan, a former minister of commerce, industry and energy.
A six-term lawmaker, Chough was the last of the contenders to open his bid for the Dec. 19 presidential election but has gained the most support.
According to the Kookmin Ilbo newspaper last Saturday, Chough ranked ninth in a nationwide survey with support of 1 percent.
Except for Lee Myung-bak the presidential contender of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP), all other contenders received single digit support in the poll. Lee garnered support of 49.7 percent.
Former Gyeonggi Governor Sohn of the pro-government United New Democratic Party followed Lee with 7.8 percent, while other DP presidential aspirants were not even mentioned in the survey.
Chough will have difficulty in the presidential race due to his weak support base in the party and low popularity with public, political analysts said.
Rhee, who is running for the presidency for the third time, also suffers from rock-bottom popularity.
A former two-term lawmaker, Kim Min-seok appeals to party members and the public with a young and reformative image but still has low recognition value.
Chang is said to have shown a stable performance while leading the party, but similar to former Minister Shin has little recognition value, either.
The DP will announce its standard-bearer on Oct. 16, party officials said.