S Korean opposition party keeps top post in presidential polls

Moon Jae-in, former head of the biggest opposition Minjoo Party in South Korea, kept his top post by a wide margin after former UN chief Ban Ki-moon dropped his bid for presidential race, media reported on Thursday.

Ban, the career South Korean diplomat whose second five-year tenure in the top UN post terminated at the end of last year, returned to his home country three weeks earlier.

He was welcomed in the conservative camp as the powerful presidential contender, but he abruptly pulled out of the presidential race on Wednesday as his support scores tumbled following the lunar New Year's holiday, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to a survey of 1,000 voters conducted on Wednesday to reflect Ban's withdrawal, the former Minjoo Party chief garnered 25.5 per cent in approval scores, beating rivals by a wide margin.

Support for Ban was mostly divided into Ahn Hee-jung of the Minjoo Party, the governor of South Chungcheong province, and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn who is serving as Acting President.

Ahn's approval rating moved to the second place with 11.2 per cent, compared with 6.4 per cent tallied a week ago. It was followed by Hwang with 10.5 per cent.

As Ahn shares the political support base in the province with the former UN head, Ban's withdrawal helped boost support for the provincial governor.

Prime Minister Hwang also benefited from Ban's drop as there are few contenders found in the conservative bloc to replace the impeached president.

--IANS

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