Former Roh aide rising as strong opposition presidential candidate

By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, Aug. 8 (Yonhap) -- A close confidant of the late President Roh Moo-hyun has for the first time topped a popularity survey of possible opposition contenders in next year's presidential election, according to the poll's outcome released Monday.
The survey, conducted by the Seoul-based polling agency Realmeter, marked the first time that Moon Jae-in, a lawyer who served as Roh's chief of staff, has overtaken the main opposition Democratic Party leader Sohn Hak-kyu as favorite opposition presidential candidate.
The Aug. 1-4 poll on 3,750 adults showed that Moon had 9.8 percent of support, compared with Sohn's 9.4 percent.
Park Geun-hye, former leader of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) and front-runner in the race, had a commanding lead with 32.2 percent of support, the survey showed.
Moon, 58, has not formally revealed any presidential ambitions or plans to run for a parliamentary seat. However, he recently started working with liberal political parties and civic groups to form a united front for parliamentary elections scheduled for April.
Roh committed suicide in May 2009 in the middle of a prosecution investigation into graft allegations that involved his aides and family members. Supporters denounced the probe as political.
"It seems that Moon has attracted support from the pro-Roh group with his brisk political activities," Realmeter CEO Lee Taek-soo said. "Sohn's rating seems to reflect his difficulty in drawing active support from both left and center-left groups."
The DP was not surprised by Sohn's lower rating that has slowly dropped over the past months after it soared over 30 percent following his victory in a conservative stronghold in April's by-elections.
"I think it's a situation where pressures are rising on candidates in the opposition bloc to unite forces for next year's elections," said Rep. Park Sun-sook, who is in charge of the party's public relations.
With Moon's rising popularity, progressive and center-left politicians have been reaching out to Moon to unify the opposition against the ruling Grand National Party in next year's elections.
Moon and his supporters vow to make greater efforts to unite the liberal forces to win next year's elections.
"The rating seems to have reflected people's wish to unite center-left and left groups and change the administration. But there will be no dramatic change," one of Moon's aides said. "We will put more efforts to the liberal parties' solidarity."



ejkim@yna.co.kr