Seoul, May 24 (IANS) South Korean People Power Party (PPP) presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo paid a courtesy visit to former President Park Geun-hye on Saturday and asked for her support for the upcoming presidential election, officials said.

Kim met Park at her residence in the southeastern city of Daegu while campaigning in the region, which is a PPP stronghold.

It was Kim’s first meeting with Park since he secured the nomination earlier this month.

During the meeting, Park emphasised the importance of “putting the past behind and uniting as one to win the election, despite the many challenges the party has faced,” PPP spokesperson Shin Dong-wook told reporters.

Kim responded that, though the party primaries were tough, he is now fully focused on working hard to win the election and expressed hope for Park’s support.

Prior to the meeting, Kim visited the birthplace of Park’s father, former President Park Chung-hee, in Gumi, about 200 kilometres southeast of Seoul.

“Former President Park Chung-hee laid the foundation for the prosperity we enjoy today,” Kim said.

He also emphasised that the honor of former President Park Geun-hye “must be fully restored,” noting her removal from office in 2017 over a corruption and influence-peddling scandal.

While campaigning in the region, Kim bowed to the public and apologized for “the many shortcomings of both myself and our party,” referencing such issues as the imposition of martial law and economic hardship under former President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Yoon was impeached last month for declaring martial law in December, an act that ultimately led to the upcoming presidential election on June 3, Yonhap news agency reported.

Meanwhile, Democratic Party (DP) presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung maintained a big lead among contenders for the June 3 election, a survey showed Saturday.

In a Realmeter survey conducted on 1,009 adults from Thursday to Friday, Lee led the poll with 46.6 per cent, down 1.5 percentage points from the previous poll.

Support for his People Power Party (PPP) rival Kim Moon-soo also dropped 1 percentage point to 37.6 per cent, while Lee Jun-seok of the minor New Reform Party came in third with 10.4 per cent, up 1 percentage point.

In a hypothetical two-way contest, the DP’s Lee garnered 51.1 per cent, trailed by Kim with 43.9 per cent. In a similar scenario against Lee Jun-seok, Lee Jae-myung led with 48.9 per cent versus 37 per cent for the New Reform Party candidate.

The margin of error was 3.1 percentage points at a 95 per cent confidence level.

–IANS

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