A provincial governor of South Korea's main opposition Minjoo Party emerged as dark horse in recent polls on the replacement of impeached President Park Geun-hye.
According to a Realmeter survey released on Thursday, Ahn Hee-jung, governor of South Chungcheong province who has the Minjoo Party affiliation, gained 19.3 percent in approval scores as the next leader, up 2.6 percentage points from a week earlier.
The result is based on a poll of 1,515 voters conducted from Monday to Wednesday. It has 2.5 percentage points in margin of error.
Ahn stayed in the second place for three straight weeks, seeing his approval rating rise for the fourth consecutive week.
The former close aide to late President Roh Moo-hyun, who had governed the country for five years from 2003, beat Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn by a wider margin.
Hwang, who is serving as acting president following the presidential impeachment, has been placed under media spotlight as there is no viable candidate in the conservative bloc found to succeed the impeached leader.
The acting president garnered 16.5 percent in approval scores this week, up 1.2 percentage points from the prior week. He ranked the third in polls for three weeks in a row.
Ahn and Hwang began to gain popularity after former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon dropped his bid to run for presidency on Feb. 1.
Ahn shares a support base in the Chungcheong province with the former UN chief, while Hwang is considered as a conservative figure who can absorb support from Ban's conservative loyalists.
Moon Jae-in, former head of the Minjoo Party, kept his top spot for seven straight weeks. He won 32.7 percent in support scores, down 0.2 percentage point from the previous week.
The Minjoo Party ranked the first in public support as 45 percent of respondents favored the party. It was followed by the ruling Liberty Korea Party with 16.2 percent, the minor opposition People's Party with 11.5 percent and the new conservative Righteous Party with 6.0 percent.
