The survey was conducted on 1,008 South Koreans on Monday and Tuesday with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

South Chungcheong Gov. An Hee-jung of the Democratic Party saw his standing fall 4.4 percentage points over the cited period to 14.5 percent.

Moon Jae-in, former head of the Democratic Party, saw his approval rating reach 35.2 percent, standing as the dominant player in the poll.

Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party posted 10.9 percent, and Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung with 9 percent.

Pundits said Hwang's approval rating increased among conservative voters who cheered his decision to reject the extension of the special probe into the corruption scandal of President Park Geun-hye.

Park was impeached by the parliament in December on the corruption scandal surrounding her confidante Choi Soon-sil, who exerted influence on state affairs without any seat in the administration.

In contrast, An saw his standing lose ground after making a controversial remark that Park, as well as former President Lee Myung-bak, intended to come up with reasonable policies, although they did not follow the rules and the system. (Yonhap)