South Korea's election watchdog said Monday it is looking into possible election law violations by a foundation that is being set up by Ahn Cheol-soo, a software entrepreneur-turned-professor who may have presidential ambitions.

A source at the National Election Commission (NEC) said that there is a need to see if the public foundation that Ahn said he will create conflicts with an existing election law that bans monetary contributions or donations aimed at swaying votes.

"The NEC is in the process of checking if the foundation complies with existing rules," the insider said, without going into details. He stressed that the conclusion will be made as soon as possible to eliminate any uncertainties.

Ahn, who has yet to officially announce his plans to compete in this year's presidential race, is nevertheless leading in nationwide polls among hopefuls in the opposition camp. He is also considered as a serious challenger to Rep. Park Geun-hye, who is the top presidential contender for the ruling Saenuri Party.

In a poll released over the weekend, Ahn's approval rating stood at 43.7 percent, which is much higher than other opposition party contenders. Park's numbers reached 49.8 percent in the same poll conducted on 1,500 people across the country late last week.

The 49-year-old founder of AhnLab, South Korea's biggest anti-virus software firm, and dean of the Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology at Seoul National University announced he would launch a charity foundation in February. Ahn said he would help fund the foundation by selling some of his stakes in the anti-virus firm.

The foundation, however, has yet to be officially set up.

Initially the foundation was set to be created in late March, but the launch date was pushed back with no definitive date set at present. Ahn's supporters said they are examining when to officially launch the foundation.

Regarding the probe, Rep. Shim Jae-chul, a four-term lawmaker for Saenuri, said earlier in the day that under article 112 of the country's election law, presidential contenders can only be involved in public foundations or raising charity funds if the effort was launched four years before the election date.

"Since Ahn could become a candidate in the presidential election, using a newly created foundation to give donations clearly can be seen as breaking the law," the lawmaker claimed. (Yonhap News)