A main opposition leader became a front-runner in an opinion poll for the first time in eight months, a poll showed Friday.

A poll released by polling agency Gallup Korea showed 16 percent of people supported Moon Jae-in, leader of the main opposition Minjoo Party, in a potential presidential race.

It marked the first time that Moon has become a front-runner in a poll since May last year.

The turnaround came as Moon is recruiting new figures for his embattled party following a breakup with Ahn Cheol-soo, a former co-chairman of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy.

Moon and Ahn failed to work out differences over how to reform their party, which led to Ahn’s departure.

Moon has since changed the name of the main opposition party to the Minjoo Party of Korea in an apparent move to improve its image before the general elections in April.

Ahn, who is seeking to create a new political party, is trailing behind by receiving 13 percent of support in the poll while Kim Moo-sung, head of the ruling Saenuri Party, received 12 percent of support.

The survey was conducted on 1,005 adults between Tuesday and Thursday and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. (Yonhap)