S.Korean election polls point to liberal candidate

By Alex Jensen

SEOUL

South Korea looks set for its first liberal president in nearly a decade, as the Democratic Party (DP)’s Moon Jae-in held a commanding lead in final poll results released Wednesday.

With less than a week until election day on May 9, there is now a local ban on publishing new election survey results.

Realmeter’s poll conducted Monday and Tuesday placed Moon’s 42.4 percent -- around 24 percentage points ahead of his nearest rival, conservative hope Hong Joon-pyo.

Conservative contenders have struggled because of their association with impeached ex-President Park Geun-hye, whose expulsion in March prompted an election months ahead of schedule.

The impact of a liberal leader would likely be felt throughout the region. Moon has pledged to boost cooperation with North Korea, while his party has vowed to examine the recent deployment of the United States’ THAAD missile defense system in South Korea.

DP members have even been holding talks with China in an apparent attempt to ease Beijing’s anger over THAAD.

U.S. President Donald Trump has at least partly vindicated Moon’s THAAD-cautious stance by calling for Seoul to pay $1 billion for the anti-missile system, thus ignoring a prior agreement that Washington would foot the bill.

A separate poll unveiled by Gallup Korea Wednesday gave Moon a rating of 38 percent, ahead of centrist Ahn Cheol-soo and Hong on 20 percent and 16 percent respectively.

Ahn had been seen as Moon’s toughest challenger but he has fallen behind amid criticism of his handling of recent presidential debates.