Daegu race tightens as conservatives rally behind Choo

Early in the year, when parties began to select candidates for the June 3 local elections, the Daegu mayoral race appeared to favor liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) candidate Kim Boo-kyum, as the conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP) was mired in an internal feud over candidate selection.

This raised speculation that the liberal candidate could gain an easy win in Daegu, long regarded as a conservative stronghold.

That picture is changing.

In the final stretch of the campaign, PPP candidate Choo Kyung-ho has narrowed the gap by leaning on his image as an economic policymaker, while conservatives have increasingly framed the race as a battle to keep Daegu in conservative hands.

Polls show that the race has tightened significantly over the past month.

In a survey of 800 Daegu citizens conducted from May 16 to 20 by Korea Research and commissioned by KBS, released on Thursday, Kim led with 40 percent support, narrowly ahead of Choo at 39 percent.

The gap had narrowed steadily from 7 percentage points in a survey conducted by the same pollster between April 27 and 29, wi