Moon to challenge for S Korean presidency The race for South Korea's presidency picked up pace on Sunday as the country's liberal opposition party nominated a lawyer and former presidential aide as its candidate for December's election. Moon Jae-in, chief of staff to former president Roh Moo-hyun, was confirmed as the Democratic United Party's candidate after winning its primary contest in Seoul on Sunday, completing a sweeping victory in the three-week nomination process. Having seen off three DUP rivals in a frequently bad-tempered internal campaign, Mr Moon will seek to mend internal rifts in his party as he turns his attention to Park Geun-hye, the conservative candidate of the ruling New Frontier party, who enjoys a commanding lead in opinion polls. The election build-up has prompted a national debate on "economic democratisation," as South Korea's slowing growth rate puts added focus on wealth disparity in an economy dominated by a small number of sprawling family-controlled conglomerates. Analysts say that there are few major policy differences between Mr Moon and Ms Park, with both promising to boost social welfare funding and support for small businesses. Ms Park has tacked to the centre in response to the unpopularity of the incumbent president Lee Myung-bak, who is widely perceived by voters as having had too much sympathy for big business and paid too little attention to the poor. However, Mr Moon has attracted attention for his policy on relations with North Korea, which is reminiscent of the conciliatory "Sunshine Policy" pursued between 1998 and 2008 by Mr Roh and his predecessor Kim Dae-jung. Mr Lee's presidency has brought a tougher stance towards Pyongyang, based on a view that the Sunshine Policy gave South Korea too little benefit in exchange for the economic and diplomatic concessions it made to the North. Mr Moon has promised measures such as co-operation on infrastructure development and freer trade with the North, arguing that improved relations will boost the national economy and reduce security risks. "The North-South relationship has been destroyed in the past five years," Mr Moon said last month. Our economy is now faced with the limits of growth, and thus will require a new growth engine. North Korea is a land of opportunity for us. South Korean media are now eagerly awaiting an announcement from Ahn Chul-soo, a university and software entrepreneur whose potential bid for the presidency has been the subject of feverish speculation for months. Mr Ahn's lack of political experience is seen as a liability by some analysts, but as an asset by his core support base of young voters disillusioned by frequent infighting and corruption allegations in the established parties. Mr Ahn's poll ratings have slipped over the summer as he kept voters guessing on whether he will run as an independent candidate, but his spokesman said he would reveal his decision following the result of the DUP primary. Analysts say that the biggest threat to Ms Park's hopes of winning in December would be a decision by Mr Ahn to throw his weight behind Mr Moon's campaign, uniting the liberal vote.