Ban Ki Moon for South Korea President? Poll Results Say So

In a new survey on the next possible president of South Korea, current United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon topped the list of the other possible candidates for the country's presidency. The poll results give Ban supporters another positive sign that he could win the highest seat in the government next year.

Korea JoongAng Daily reported that in a survey conducted by the JoongAng Ilbo, of the 1,000 respondents across South Korea, 32.7 percent of eligible voters want Ban to head the country after the term of the current South Korean President Park Geun-Hye. The percentage was almost twice that of Moon Jae In's 17.3 percent, the second leading potential President according to the survey.

People's Party's Ahn Cheol Soo got 8.1 percent while Seoul Mayor Park Won Soon garnered 4.2 percent. Other candidates on the list included former Saenuri Chairman Kim Moo Sung (3.9%), former Mayor of Seoul Oh Se Hoon (3.7%), and former Gyeonggi governor Sohn Hak Kyu (3.2%).

The poll was conducted on September 20 and 21 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. It occurred at a time when speculations over Ban's candidacy for the presidential seat increases. Ban Ki Moon will be concluding his second term at the United Nations at the end of 2016.

However, the number of Ban's supporters may still change once he begins campaigning for the presidency. If he maintains the lead of being the next potential head of the country, the opposition will definitely question his performance at the United Nations as well as his qualifications as Commander-in-Chief.

A Political Science professor at Dankook University said, "For Ban, the favorability rating of 63 percent could be the high watermark that he would bot be able to break in the future after he joins the contest. His favorability rating is likely to fall once he faces a backlash from the general public for his political decisions, such as joining the Saenuri Party and forming an alliance with members loyal to President Park Geun Hye."

Ban also received favorable support from survey respondents in their 20s with 56.4 percent.