Justice Party's Roh leading poll

By Kang Seung-woo

Roh Hoe-chan

Roh Hoe-chan of the minor opposition Justice Party is ahead in a poll conducted in Changwon-Seongsan district, South Gyeongsang Province, after another opposition candidate withdrew to support him.

The survey, conducted by the Chosun Ilbo, showed that Roh, a former two-term lawmaker, leading Rep. Kang Gi-yun of the Saenuri Party by 10.8 percentage points ― 39.9 percent to 29.1 percent.

The result is encouraging for Roh, an activist-turned-politician who is seeking to return to the National Assembly.

Analysts say that the result is thanks mainly to an agreement between Roh and Huh Sung-moo of the Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) to field a single candidate on March 29 in order to prevent a split of the vote among liberal supporters in the election, scheduled for April 13.

Before the alliance, Roh was trailing Kang by 13.3 percentage points in a poll, released on March 23, but an April 2 survey by cable news network YTN showed Roh rallied to lead Kang 36.1 percent to 30.6 percent.

In the wake of losing ground on its home turf, the ruling party began to bash Roh.

“Roh has switched political parties a number of times,” said Saenuri Chairman Kim Moo-sung on the campaign trail for Kang in Changwon.

“In addition, he joined hands with pro-North Korea United Progressive Party (UPP) in the previous general election and this helped the party’s 10 candidates win parliamentary seats.”

The leftist UPP was disbanded in 2014 after being accused of supporting North Korea at the cost of South Korea’s national security.

“It does not make sense that the hard-working Kang is behind Roh in public polls,” Kim said, appealing for support for Kang.

South Gyeongsang Province along with North Gyeongsang Province has been a political stronghold for the Saenuri Party for decades.