A South Korean minor progressive party's approval rating hit a record high last week after the death of an influential lawmaker, a weekly survey showed Monday.

According to the Realmeter poll, support for the Justice Party gained 2.1 percentage points over the week to 12.5 percent last week. It was the highest ever recorded by the progressive party.

Liberal voters moved to the party for support following the death of Rep. Roh Hoe-chan, a floor leader of the party.

Roh, known for his clean and reformist image, committed suicide on July 23 amid a probe into allegations that he had received illegal political fund.

In his suicide note, Roh admitted receiving the fund that he said had nothing to do with illegal favors.

His confession triggered criticism over the current political fund act that is too tight for politicians of minor parties to get legal funds necessary for political activities.

Tens of thousands of ordinary people paid respect to him during the five-day funeral last week. When the farewell service was held last Friday, the daily support score for the Justice Party surged to 15.5 percent, topping 15 percent for the first time.

Support for the ruling Democratic Party rose 0.6 percentage points over the week to 44.0 percent last week.

The main conservative opposition Liberty Korea Party earned 18.6 percent of support, trailing the governing party by a wide margin.

The minor conservative Bareun Future Party gained 7 percent of support last week, and the center-leftist Party for Democracy and Peace won 2.9 percent in approval rating.

The results were based on a poll of 2,504 voters conducted from Monday to Friday last week. It had 2.0 percentage points in margin of error with a 95 percent confidence level.