Moon Jae-in, former head of the main opposition Democratic Party, outpaced ex-UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in an opinion poll of potential presidential contenders, data showed Thursday.
   
Moon posted an approval rating of 27.9 percent this week up 1.1 percentage points on-week, followed by Ban with 20.3 percent and Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung with 11.3 percent, a survey conducted by RealMeter showed. 

Ban's popularity fell 1.2 percentage points on-week after his brother and nephew were recently indicted on bribery charges in New York, the pollster said. Completing his two terms at the UN, Ban flies back to South Korea on Thursday.

Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party posted 7.1 percent, followed by South Chungcheong Gov. Ahn Hee-jung with 5.2 percent.
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon posted 4.3 percent. 

Rep. Yoo Seong-min of a splinter group from the ruling Saenuri Party managed to post 2.4 percent, the pollster said.

By party, the main opposition Democratic Party stood as the most popular party with 37 percent, followed by the Saenuri-splinter party with 12.3 percent and Saenuri with 12 percent, respectively. The People's Party also posted a 12 percent approval rating. (Yonhap)