Potential presidential hopeful Ahn Cheol-soo has recently brought in a former presidential press secretary as his spokesman in a move seen as suggesting the popular professor and software developer is gearing up his bid for the top office.

Ahn, 50, has been widely considered a potential opposition candidate in December's presidential vote since he demonstrated powerful influence over voters during October's Seoul mayoral by-election. But the soft-spoken professor of Seoul National University has never made his intentions clear.

On Friday, Yoo Min-young, who served as a press secretary under late former President Roh Moo-hyun, said that Ahn recently offered him a job to become his spokesman and he accepted the proposal.

Yoo, who entered politics as an aide to late dissident-turned-opposition lawmaker Kim Geun-tae, also worked as a press officer on the campaign team of late President Roh during the

2007 election. He is now an adjunct professor at Hallym University in Chuncheon.

"I think I have to explain Ahn's position clearly," Yoo said.

Ahn, a former medical doctor who gained fame in the 1990s after establishing the anti-virus software firm AhnLab, is widely popular, especially among young Koreans, due largely to his clean and upright image. He is now dean of the Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology at Seoul National University.

Analysts have said Ahn's popularity illustrates the distrust South Koreans have of existing politicians and political parties, which have often come under fire for engaging in factional or partisan fighting without caring for ordinary people.

The public sees Ahn as a fresh alternative to the current political establishment, they say. (Yonhap News)