Ruling Saenuri Party's presidential hopeful Park Geun-hye and her main opposition rival Moon Jae-in are making last-ditch efforts to win swing voters who can decide the outcome of this year's race, political watchers said Friday.
Undecided voters are estimated to make up 5-10 percent of the 40 million people eligible to cast ballots next Wednesday and because of the tight race, they could determine who leads the country for the next five years.
Of the 16 nationwide polls taken from Sunday through Wednesday, and published by local media outlets before the blackout on all election-related surveys, Park was ahead by an average of 2.7 percentage points, which is within the margin of error. Park's approval rating stood at 46 percent on average, compared to a little over 43 percent for her Democratic United Party (DUP) rival.
"The candidate who can successfully court voters who can still vote, but have not made up their minds, will likely win the race," said political analyst Kim Sung-wan.
He predicted that of all voters, about 20 percent will probably not cast their ballots, and with conservatives and liberals already firmly entrenched behind their candidates, undecided voters hold the key to the presidency.
Kim said that these voters generally have become politically disenchanted with the established political parties and currently dislike both Park and Moon. Other observers generally echoed this view with some estimating that of the undecided voters, about half may purposely boycott the election out of principle.
Kim Jong-bae, another election watcher, said in a radio interview that depending on whom these swing voters support, the slim lead held by the conservative candidate could be overturned.
"Park has a slight edge at present, yet Moon seems to have caught up in the past week so the actual results are hard to predict," he said. The expert said swing voters could affect the final tally by 3-4 percentage points.
Related to the importance of undecided voters, Saenuri's Park has stressed they have set up and are implementing strategies to appeal to moderates and the politically disillusioned.
Park said during recent campaign trails that she will become a president focused on national unity, improving the livelihoods of the people, and concentrating on "bread and butter" issues. The party and campaign managers have said there is a need to guard against any slip-ups that could cause small, yet decisive changes in votes.
The 60-year-old standard bearer for the ruling camp also claimed the opposition was resorting to outdated mud-slinging tactics that must be swept away from South Korean politics once and for all.
"From this moment, I am declaring an all-out war on false propaganda," the contender said in a news conference held at the party headquarters. "I will firmly crush the political maneuvering, false accusations and slander that have taken over this land so that they may never re-emerge."
Earlier this week, the DUP accused Park of trying to cheat during a televised presidential debate by carrying a tablet PC into the TV studio. The party has also demanded an investigation into allegations the country's main spy agency posted slanderous comments about Moon on the Internet in a bid to influence the race. Mud-slinging and underhanded political maneuvering are actions that have drawn intense criticism from the public.
"As predicted by some, this year's race will be about a candidate winning just a little bit more than the rival," said Ahn Sang-soo, a co-chairperson for Park's election office.
He predicted that despite Moon coming close, in the end, the Saenuri hopeful will prevail. The DUP and its presidential candidate, on the other hand, said it has "evidence" of wrongdoing and claimed that the intelligence service was trying to manipulate the election.
Chung Sye-kyun, a ranking official within Moon's election camp, countered that the Saenuri contender first needs to apologize to them because one of her campaigners was caught red-handed by the National Election Commission (NEC) for engaging in illegal election activities and operating a non-registered office. The election watchdog said earlier in the day they will file charges against the Saenuri official.
The party official, in addition, called on Park to agree to a one-on-one debate with Moon so voters can get a better idea of who is more qualified to run the country.
Moon, meanwhile, has been touring the country and called on voters to pass judgment on the incumbent Lee Myung-bak administration and the Saenuri Party.
He said only by evicting Saenuri from power can the people bring about meaningful political, social and economic changes.
This stance is aimed at directing the attention of undecided voters to the current state of the country's affairs. Most polls have shown that people are dissatisfied with how the government is run.
He has said that if elected, every effort will be made to bring about economic democracy that can improve the distribution of wealth and expand welfare.
The first term lawmaker, moreover, lashed out at the government for its failure to safeguard national security and argued he was the best qualified to manage peace that is important if the economy is to move forward.
The DUP has been carrying out a nationwide get-out-the-vote campaign since high turnout tends to favor the liberal side. The DUP estimated its candidate can win if the turnout surpasses the 70 percent mark.
Party insiders said that Moon has made a startling comeback, while Park has stagnated in the polls. They expressed confidence that the Saenuri candidate's around 2 percentage point lead could be overcome if the current upward momentum is maintained.
Officials said Moon is paying particular attention to Seoul and the adjacent Gyeonggi region that has roughly half of all voters and the largest number of swing voters.
Meanwhile, local pundits said that the race has become "interesting" and may actually become a race won by the slightest margin.
"Notwithstanding earlier predictions, Ahn Cheol-soo seems to be having an impact and pushing up numbers for Moon," said an analyst by East Asia Institute.
He said Ahn's support and campaigning is fueling Moon's gains, although it remains to be seen if more voters will support the DUP candidate in the next couple of days to turn the tables on Park.
Detractors of this view said that while Moon has gained a bit, the margin of difference is back to when the official campaigning began on Nov. 27. At that time the DUP contender trailed by 2-3 percentage points with the gap widening to 3-5 percentage points early this month. (Yonhap)