The Saenuri Party's presidential election camp sources said Monday they were encouraged by the rise in Park Geun-hye's popularity among voters in their 40s and those living in Seoul and neighboring Gyeonggi Province.
Insiders said recent surveys showed the five-term lawmaker and presidential candidate doing relatively well in the key age group and the two regions that are home to roughly half of all voters in the country.
In the past, Park and the conservative Saenuri Party have not been very popular among voters in their 40s and urban dwellers who have leaned toward liberal politicians and Ahn Cheol-soo. Ahn, a software entrepreneur-turned-professor, is widely known to have political ambitions. He is famous for founding AhnLab, the country's largest anti-virus software company, and known for his clean image. He is currently the dean of the Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology at Seoul National University.
In a poll carried out by the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI) on 700 people and released earlier in the day, Park's approval rating in Seoul hit 52.1 percent versus 42.5 percent for Ahn, who is her closest rival in opinion polls.
The same poll showed that in the Gyeonggi region that includes the port city of Incheon, her rating stood at 48.9 percent compared to 48.2 percent for Ahn, while among voters in their 40s, the candidate received support from 49.2 percent compared to 44.7 percent for her potential opponent, who has yet to announce his bid.
Park's campaign managers said while the lead in the KSOI poll is not substantial, there has been a gradual rise in approval among people who could decide the Dec. 19 poll.
Another survey by Hankook Research that polled 1,000 people showed similar results for the capital city and the neighboring region, although among voters in their 40s, Park trailed Ahn.
"The overall rise seems to reflect the positive image generated by her efforts to seek national unity after she was tapped as the presidential candidate on Aug. 20," a Saenuri official said. The 60-year-old candidate visited the graves of her political opponents and tried to make amends with people who suffered during her late father's 18-year rule.
Others said she must do more to maintain the momentum by continuing to stress the importance of national unity, bringing in fresh members to her campaign team and implementing her economic democratization pledge that seeks to strive for co-prosperity between big businesses and smaller firms. (Yonhap)