>
Ban Ki-moon, outgoing UN Secretary General, whose second five-year term is set to end by the end of this year, reclaimed top spot in recent South Korean presidential polls, local survey showed on Monday.
According to a survey of 2,528 voters nationwide conducted by local pollster Realmeter between Dec. 19 and 23, support for Ban as the country’s next leader was 23.3 per cent, up 2.8 percentage points from the previous week.
His main support base was the North Gyeongsang province, a traditional home turf for impeached President Park Geun-hye and the ruling Saenuri Party, in which Ban garnered 35.8 per cent in approval scores, up 9.3 percentage points from a week earlier.
As there is no competitive presidential contender found in the ruling bloc, Ban is seen as the last remaining hope for conservative voters.