S. Korea's presidential contenders have near-opposite backgrounds SEOUL - The race to become South Korea's next president pits two candidates who've talked on the campaign trail about center-leaning policies. But they arrived at this middle ground by taking nearly opposite paths, one as near-royalty - the daughter of a former president who seized power with a military coup - and the other as an activist who once was jailed for protesting the strongman's rule. Though conservative Park Geun-hye and liberal Moon Jae-in differ in some economic policies, they share similar rhetoric about creating jobs and cracking down on corporate corruption, and they represent a country that is far less divided than usual about its priorities. The debate leading up to the Dec. 19 vote is as much about what the candidates have done as what they say they'll do once in office. South Korea's presidential candidate Park Geun-Hye of the ruling Saenuri Party attends a televised debate on Dec. 10, 2012. Today, he's a freedom fighter, but what happens to canny rebels like this once Assad falls? Italy needs a Berlusconi comeback like it needs a hole in its head By 2030, three of the world's top four powers could be Asian and none of them European. The Korean rapper's 2004 song lyrics might not have actually called for the deaths of U.S. servicemen. The race is close: Most polls show Park with a lead of three or four percentage points. Ten percent of voters remain undecided. And Moon still could get a slight bump from the endorsement last Thursday of independent Ahn Cheol-soo, a software entrepreneur who reluctantly dropped out of the race in November to avoid splitting the liberal vote. Voters" preferences for the top two candidates break by age. Moon, from the Democratic United Party (DUP), leads significantly among voters in their 20s, 30s and 40s, according to a recent poll from the Asan Institute, a Seoul-based think tank. But for those 50 and older, the sentiment flip-flops toward Park, whose father, Park Chung-hee, took control of the country 51 years ago. In other words, Park has the support of those who remember her father's 18-year reign but lacks it from those who don't. Park Chung-hee remains one of South Korea's most divisive figures, somebody whose legacy is still being fought over. But older Koreans tend to be sentimental for his reign, remembering it as an economic boomtime and a period of national optimism. South Koreans widely agree that Park Chung-hee was an autocrat, but conservatives tend to think of him as a relatively benevolent one - and less corrupt than some of his predecessors. He also pulled the strings for South Korea's remarkable economic take-off by channeling bank loans to big businesses and forcing them to export, a means to become internationally competitive. But Park is controversial because he drew up a constitution allowing him unlimited six-year terms, won elections with vote-rigging and oversaw violent crackdowns on dissenters, including university students. He was eventually assassinated by an aide in 1979. An earlier North Korea-led assassination attempt - in 1974 - missed Park but killed his wife, opening the door for a mourning Park Geun-hye, at age 22, to become de facto first lady. Park Geun-hye's aides say they are sensitive about her connection to her father. They sent a memo to media earlier this year asking that articles not refer to Park Chung-hee as a "dictator." On the campaign trail, Park has also apologized for some of her father's actions, including his coup and crackdowns on students.