By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
Presidential nominee Chung Dong-young of the United New Democratic Party (UNDP) said Sunday that he is the candidate for low-income families and for peace on the Korean peninsula.
Chung continued to focus on his slogan regarding the ``upper 20 versus the lower 80'' as his key campaign issue at a news conference held in Seoul.
The former unification minister said his rival Lee Myung-bak of the Grand National Party (GNP) was a candidate for the top 20 percent of the population, while he represented the remaining 80 percent.
Chung said two major candidates _ one representing brutal conservatives; the other peace-loving liberals _ are competing in the December election.
He said the five values of growth, opportunity, peace, family and integration were core elements of his vision for the economy.
Experts said that the UNDP nominee seems to have liberal voters in mind in drawing this dichotomy.
Polls said that the UNDP nominee's ratings hit double-digits after he won the party nomination on Oct. 15.
But his ratings are still below 20 percent, and his rival Lee has a solid lead by a margin of over 30 percentage points.
The latest Hankook Ilbo poll found that 34.5 percent of respondents described themselves as liberals.
The poll result indicates that liberal party candidate Chung has failed to draw full support from his stronghold supporters.
GNP spokesman Park Heong-joon said the UNDP nominee was trying to woo liberal voters and motivate moderate voters with the polarizing comments.
At the press conference, Chung said the country was experiencing a severe clash between old and new visions.
He described Lee as a pro-business candidate who has little compassion for the working class who are suffering under the brutal market economy.
His rival Lee called him a polarizing figure and made it clear that he would not be engaged in a consuming war of political ideology and will continue to focus on the virtues of pragmatism.
Chung cited serious problems that have appeared in the economy.
According to him, the nation is undergoing deep discrepancies between large and small and medium businesses, exports and domestic consumption, and traditional and future technology industries.
He said that deep discrepancies are also found between central and local economies and full-time and part-time workers.
The former unification minister said he will pursue a balance between growth and equity if elected president.
He said he will achieve the goal by putting more emphasis on the low-income class than on large businesses and conglomerates.