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Kim Moo-sung said on July 30 that he does not yet see himself as “qualified to be a presidential contender.”

The leader of the ruling Saenuri Party and early 2017 front-runner delivered the self-assessment during his visit to the US this week.

“I asked them to take my name out, and I’m embarrassed that they didn’t,” Kim said when asked about opinion polls ranking him as the top prospect in the 2017 presidential elections during a meeting with South Korean correspondents in New York City.

“For the presidency, you have to be in tune with what the public wishes for at that time and in that context, and I have to wonder if that kind of opportunity will ever come to me,” he added.

Kim went on to say his top priority was “getting the right-wing conservative Saenuri Party reelected for the sake of South Korea’s growth.”

“Whether I become president is a secondary issue,” he said.

“I am willing to give my own life to make sure another right-wing conservative administration is elected,” he affirmed.

Kim ranked first among ruling and opposition party candidates in results announced on July 28 from a Money Today and Real Meter poll on contenders in the 2017 election, with a rating of 28.1% (margin of error ±3.1 percentage points with a 95% confidence level). The general analysis among observers is that Kim’s US visit, which has drawn criticized against Kim for “prostrating himself” and “picking the US over China,” has been effective in rallying conservative supporters.

Kim also visited the United Nations on the afternoon of July 31 and met with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for a 45-minute conversation on the political situation on the Korean peninsula and the country’s role in the international community.

During the meeting, Kim asked Ban to “work so that the international community takes more of an interest in the North Korean nuclear issue,” while Ban said he was “committed to playing any role necessary to lead North Korea to dialogue and contribute to improving inter-Korean relations.”

No mention of the 2017 election or South Korean politics was made during the meeting, Kim told reporters.

By Hwang Jun-beom, staff reporter in New York

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