Presidential candidates will make an all-out effort to win public support ahead of the Chuseok holiday as the country gears up to pick the next chief executive, political observers said Monday.
Observers said with ruling Saenuri Party's contender Park Geun-hye having already taking steps to expand her support base after winner her nomination last month, and Rep. Moon Jae-in picked as the opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) hopeful over the weekend, the race has effectively begun for the Dec. 19 election.
Chuseok, considered the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving Day, is one of Korea's biggest traditional holidays, and is important during an election year because it allows family and friends to exchange views on candidates. This year's Chuseok falls on Sept. 30.
Park, who had a head start, but suffered setbacks over her controversial views on modern history, is expected to restart her campaign to seek national unity and portray herself as a politician firmly set on moving forward and alleviating the plights of the underprivileged.
"Getting a clear message across is important because she does not want to repeat the mistake made in the past when she witnessed her popularity overtaken by a party rival during the crucial holiday period in 2006," an aide said. The lawmaker, who is the daughter of late President Park Chung-hee led in the polls up till Chuseok five years ago before she was overtaken by Lee Myung-bak. Lee went on to win the party's presidential ticket and the presidency.
The five-term lawmaker, who visited the graves of her staunchest adversaries and mended fences with detractors within the conservative camp, plans to meet workers from various industrial sectors and classes, so she can listen to grievances and outline her plans for the future.
A local pollster said there is a possibility that she will once and for all resolve the backlash caused by her perceived defense of her late father's legacy.
"There is a need to overcome the past like Inhyukdang, which is affecting her ratings and ability to absorb voters that are not affiliated with any party," Lee Taek-soo, head of RealMeter, said.
Inhyukdang, or the People's Revolution Party incident, involved arrests by state security agents in April 1974 and the sentencing to death of eight people for violating the harsh anti-Communist act. All people involved were subsequently cleared of wrongdoings. Park drew criticism for being vague on the incident during a radio interview last week.
For Moon, political pundits said the next two weeks could help him win the upper hand in negotiations to pick a single opposition camp candidate to compete with Park.
The first term lawmaker has benefited from the primary race with polls show him leading Ahn Cheol-soo, the founder of anti-virus software firm Ahnlab and present dean of a convergence science graduate school at Seoul National University, who is widely known for his political ambitions.
The latest RealMeter poll showed Moon winning 41.9 percent support as the ideal opposition contender, compared to 36.9 percent for Ahn, who has yet to formally announce his position on the presidential race.
Despite this upbeat development, DUP insiders said the 59-year-old former human rights lawyer and ex-chief of staff to late President Roh Moo-hyun has never been favored over Park by the public.
They added that the DUP approval rating has trailed that of Saenuri's, which can translate into weak support for its candidate in the polls.
To overcome this, Moon is expected to follow through on his pledge to seek unity and emphasize his determination to place top priority on job creation and improving the lives of ordinary citizens.
"This drive is important because the primary race has not been effective in showing what Moon stands for," an advisor said.
Besides Park and Moon, Ahn is expected to declare whether or not he will enter the presidential race in the next few days.
The dean has recently drawn fire for taking too much time in making his bid.
Pundits said that if he makes an announcement there will be almost immediate negotiations with Moon so two opposition candidates do not compete in the election. (Yonhap)