With President Park Geun-hye’s approval ratings plummeting to all-time low amid a spiraling scandal involving her confidante Choi Soon-sil, presidential hopefuls are trying to capitalize on the crisis by projecting themselves as reliable leaders.

The liberal opposition’s bigwigs are rushing to turn public anger over the Choi Soon-sil scandal into an opportunity to rally support. Heavyweights from the ruling Saenuri Party, meanwhile, are trying to set themselves apart from the embattled president and position themselves as conservative alternatives.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is rumored to be President Park’s pick for her successor, has taken a hit from the scandal, losing his longtime lead in polls of potential presidential contenders.    

For the first time in 15 weeks, Realmeter polls Thursday put Ban’s popularity behind Moon Jae-in, the former Democratic Party leader. Moon’s approval rating was 20.9 percent, but Ban stood at 16.5 percent, 4.4 percent points down from a week earlier.

Scheduled to end his term at the UN this December, the world’s top diplomat has not clarified his post-UN career, including his presidential bid for next year’s election.

Many have speculated that if he does, he would run on Saenuri’s ticket. Now with the Choi scandal, some say he may not want to be linked to the disgraced party.

“Given that our party is on the brink of being completely abandoned by the people, do you think Ban will join us?” Saenuri floor leader Rep. Chung Jin-suk was quoted as saying by Saenuri officials during a closed-door party meeting Friday.

Reeling from the scandal that has worsened factional strife between the pro-Park clique and their dissenters, some Saenuri heavyweights aim to present themselves as moderate power brokers by denouncing the president and her faction’s sway over the party’s affairs.

Saenuri’s former leader Rep. Kim Moo-sung called for a “complete overhaul” equivalent to the reestablishment of the party. Its former whip. Rep. Yoo Seong-min offered what he considered as an “alternative vision” for the conservative party by addressing income disparity and promoting fair growth.

Though the two dissenting bigwigs had once built close ties with the president during their political careers -- former leader Kim once famously said, “Every Saenuri knows who Choi Soon-sil is” -- they noted that it is time to move beyond Park’s legacy.

Encouraged by the remarkable, if not significant, increase in their popularity, the opposition parties’ heavyweights are trying to seize the momentum and turn public outrage over the conservative president into support for their presidential bids.

While Moon has emerged as the front-runner for the 2017 race, other liberal or centrist bigwigs such as Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and former People’s Party leader Ahn Cheol-soo have not seen considerable boosts in their popularity.

According to the latest Realmeter poll Thursday, Mayor Park’s approval ratings was 5.7 percent, 0.4 percent point lower than similar survey a week earlier. Ahn’s approval rating stood at 10.3, 0.2 percent point down from the last week’s survey.

Such results appeared to reflect how each opposition bigwig responded to the burgeoning political scandal -- all three politicians demanded President Park stay away from state affairs, but they differed on specific requests. 

Democratic Party’s front-runner Moon has refrained from publicly demanding the impeachment -- or resignation -- of President Park, fearing that such a radical approach would cause backlash among the general voters. 

But most recently -- as the president appears to maintain her grip on state affairs by nominating the prime minister and Cabinet members -- Moon has adopted a more assertive tone. He said that unless the president backs down, he would make an “important decision,” alluding to a push for Park’s resignation.

Former People’s Party leader Ahn and Seoul Mayor Park, on the other hand, were among the first politicians to demand the ousting of the president.

The central-left politicians said President Park has lost the “authority and ability” to act as commander in chief and that political confusion caused by a power vacuum could be offset by electing the next president earlier than scheduled.

“Even if the president were to step down, it doesn’t bring disruption to the country,” said Ahn in a parliamentary speech Thursday. Mayor Park told protesters at Saturday’s rally that “he will get the president to step down and bring an end to the president’s failure.”

Among the politicians has emerged Seongnam City’s Lee Jae-myeong, whose unapologetic leftist message resonates with longtime supporters and is now extending to average voters since the outbreak of the scandal.

The latest Realmeter poll showed that Mayor Lee ranked the fourth favorite presidential hopeful. He led Mayor Park by 4 percentage points, 9.7 percent to 5.7 percent. His gap with Ahn was only 0.6 percent points.


By Yeo Jun-suk (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)