Chungcheong governor, acting president narrow gaps with Moon in opinion poll

Published : Feb 13, 2017 - 09:43 Updated : Mar 13, 2017 - 11:36

South Chungcheong Gov. An Hee-jung and Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn narrowed their gaps with liberal front-runner Moon Jae-in in a poll of potential presidential candidates released on Monday.

Moon, former head of the main opposition Democratic Party, remained well ahead of the competition with 32.9 percent, up 1.7 percentage points from a week earlier, the survey conducted by Realmeter showed.

Moon Jae-in, former head of the Democratic Party (Yonhap)

Gov. An, also from the main opposition, came in second with an approval rating of 16.7 percent, up 3.7 points.

Hwang, who has been cited as a potential candidate from the conservative bloc after the resignation of former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon from the race, received 15.3 percent, up 2.9 points.

Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor People's Party ranked fourth with 9.5 percent, trailed by Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party with 7.8 percent.

Rep. Yoo Seong-min, a potential contender from the conservative Bareun Party, received 3.9 percent.

By party, the Democratic Party topped the survey with an approval rating of 53.8 percent, up 5.6 points on-week. The ruling Saenuri Party, which plans to rename itself as the Liberty Korea Party, followed with 14.5 percent. The People's Party and the Bareun Party got 11.6 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively. (Yonhap)