Ban enjoys strong approval rating
By Kang Seung-woo
Ban Ki-moon U.N. Secretary General
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has emerged as the runaway favorite among a field of potential candidates who might stand during the next presidential election, a poll showed Tuesday.
According to a survey conducted by Hangil Research, Ban is currently favored by 39.7 percent of the electorate ahead of the 2017 election.
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon has 13.5 percent, and Rep. Moon Jae-in of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), who lost to President Park Geun-hye in the 2012 race, is third with 9.3 percent.
The survey interviewed 1,000 respondents nationwide, aged 19 and over on Friday and Saturday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent.
Ruling Saenuri Party Chairman Kim Moo-sung was fourth with 4.9 percent and Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, the former NPAD co-chairman, rounded out the top five with 4.2 percent of support.
However, another poll that excluded the U.N. chief showed a potentially closer race might be ahead.
The Seoul mayor ranked first with 21.6 percent, followed by Moon and Kim, who have 13.8 percent and 10.1 percent, respectively.
Ahn was fourth with 7.7 percent, while Chung Mong-joon, who has disappeared from the public eye after losing the Seoul mayoral election in June, has support of 6.7 percent.