The leading parties’ presidential hopefuls set out to campaign
in electoral races in Busan just a month ahead of the general elections. Rep.
Park Geun-hye, chairwoman of the ruling Saenuri Party, visited the city on
Tuesday.
Eyes were especially drawn to her initial meeting with Sohn Su-jo, a 27-year-old political debutante who recently won the party’s candidacy for the high-profile Sasang constituency.
Sohn is to vie with left-wing heavyweight Moon Jae-in, the main opposition Democratic United Party supreme councilor and Roh Moo-hyun Foundation chairman.
The Saenuri Party leader’s visit was seen as an attempt to ease the backlash of local voters against the party’s nomination of the novice in the highly competitive race.
Park also explicitly lent her political weight to the area, foreshadowing a potential showdown with Moon, who could be her main rival in the December presidential race.
During her previous visit last month, she refrained from visiting crucial constituencies including Sasang, in an effort to prevent competition from overheating before the candidate nomination.
The nation’s second largest city has long been regarded as a conservative stronghold but has recently turned in favor of the left-wing camp. Against this backdrop, the leading parties are determined to either safeguard or reclaim the districts there in next month’s elections.
Sohn, however, has so far been playing a hard game against the former Roh aide, which led observers to compare the matchup to David and Goliath.
According to a public opinion poll conducted by the vernacular daily Hankook Ilbo on Monday, Moon won 40.7 percent of respondents’ support, whereas Sohn only won 21.9 percent.
The Saenuri leader also attended a televised open forum, prior to her meeting with Sohn.
Meanwhile, Moon also stepped up the pace.
He visited a neighboring constituency together with fellow supreme councilor Moon Sung-keun, to encourage the party candidate and to interact with the local community, officials said.
By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldm.com)
Eyes were especially drawn to her initial meeting with Sohn Su-jo, a 27-year-old political debutante who recently won the party’s candidacy for the high-profile Sasang constituency.
Sohn is to vie with left-wing heavyweight Moon Jae-in, the main opposition Democratic United Party supreme councilor and Roh Moo-hyun Foundation chairman.
The Saenuri Party leader’s visit was seen as an attempt to ease the backlash of local voters against the party’s nomination of the novice in the highly competitive race.
Park also explicitly lent her political weight to the area, foreshadowing a potential showdown with Moon, who could be her main rival in the December presidential race.
During her previous visit last month, she refrained from visiting crucial constituencies including Sasang, in an effort to prevent competition from overheating before the candidate nomination.
The nation’s second largest city has long been regarded as a conservative stronghold but has recently turned in favor of the left-wing camp. Against this backdrop, the leading parties are determined to either safeguard or reclaim the districts there in next month’s elections.
Sohn, however, has so far been playing a hard game against the former Roh aide, which led observers to compare the matchup to David and Goliath.
According to a public opinion poll conducted by the vernacular daily Hankook Ilbo on Monday, Moon won 40.7 percent of respondents’ support, whereas Sohn only won 21.9 percent.
The Saenuri leader also attended a televised open forum, prior to her meeting with Sohn.
Meanwhile, Moon also stepped up the pace.
He visited a neighboring constituency together with fellow supreme councilor Moon Sung-keun, to encourage the party candidate and to interact with the local community, officials said.
By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldm.com)
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