Ahn Chul-soo leads in poll on preferred presidential runner

Ahn Chul-soo, co-chairman of the minor opposition People’s Party, has become the most favorite potential presidential candidate in an opinion poll for the first time since August 2014, when Gallup Korea started the weekly poll on preferred presidential candidates for the 2017 presidential race.

According to the result of a mobile phone polling announced by Gallup Korea on Friday, Ahn led other potential presidential contenders with a support rate of 21 percent, followed by Moon Jae-in, former chairman of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea with 17 percent. Trailing them were former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon with 7 percent; incumbent Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon with 6 percent; independent lawmaker Yoo Seung-min with 4 percent; the ruling Saenuri Party’s Chairman Kim Moo-sung with 3 percent; Kim Boo-kyeom, a lawmaker-elect of the Minjoo Party, with 3 percent; and South Chungcheong Province Governor Ahn Hee-jung with 2 percent.

Ahn was ahead of Moon until March 2014, only to fall behind him after resigning from the chairmanship of the then New Politics Alliance for Democracy (the current Minjoo Party) following the party’s defeat in the July 30, 2014 parliamentary by-elections.

Among political parties, the Saenuri Party won 30 percent support, and the Minjoo Party 24 percent, both unchanged from the previous week. The People’s Party saw its support decline by 2 percentage points to 23 percent during the same period.

Separately, the decision-making committee of the People’s Party on Friday passed a revision proposal for its party constitution calling for changing the deadline for holding a party convention to by February 2016. The party also decided to set up a special committee to beef up its regional organizations and try to increase the number of its members from 30,000 to one million.

황형준 기자constant25@donga.com