2 trouble-hit lawmakers to stay in leftist party

Rep. Kim Jae-yeon

The plan to expel two trouble-hit lawmakers of the minor Unified Progressive Party (UPP) was foiled Thursday. Only six out of 13 UPP legislators voted in favor of the move at a party meeting.

The leftist party will inevitably face a backlash from the public as the results showed the minor party’s members turned a deaf ear to mounting calls to oust Reps. Lee Seok-ki and Kim Jae-yeon.

Lee and Kim, accused of vote-rigging in April’s parliamentary elections, will be allowed to remain in the leftist party. The two, also criticized for their pro-North Korea stance, would have been ousted from the left-leaning camp if seven or more of the UPP members had cast a ballot for their expulsion.

The failed vote tested Chairman King Ki-kab’s leadership as he, with the backing of his allies, had pushed for the plan to throw the two lawmakers out of the UPP.

Rep. Lee Seok-ki

Rep. Sim Sang-jeong, the party’s floor leader, tendered his resignation to take responsibility for the failed vote.

The UPP is divided into two factions. One is represented by Kang and Sim who are relatively moderate and call for reforming the leftist party. The other group is led by Lee and his followers.

Although the minor party failed to expel Lee and Kim, there is still a possibility that they could lose their National Assembly seat.

If the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) agree to such a proposal and two-thirds of the 300-member National Assembly approve the move in a plenary session, the two lawmakers will lose their seats.

The DUP, which forged a coalition with the UPP, is feeling pressure as its leaders calculate that the minority party’s pro-North Korea image, coupled with the vote-rigging case, will have negative fallout.

Earlier DUP Chairman Lee Hae-chan said the main opposition party had no intention to cooperate with the UPP for the presidential election if North Korea sympathizers, referring to Reps. Kim and Lee, remain in the party.

The ruling Saenuri Party is seeking to unseat the two UPP members. <The Korea Times/Kang Hyun-Kyung>

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