Four lawmakers of the minor opposition Unified Progressive Party quit the scandal-ridden party Friday to establish a new form of progressive politics.

Their “voluntary self-expulsion” was approved in a meeting of the UPP lawmakers, leaving it with nine seats in the 300-member Assembly.

The four lawmakers accepted expulsion from the party’s Seoul chapter in order to keep their seats in parliament. 

Under South Korean law, lawmakers elected on a proportional representative ticket lose their legislative seats if they voluntarily defect from their party.

The split was widely expected as the party’s two factions failed to narrow their differences over a scandal surrounding the party’s allegedly rigged primary race ahead of April’s parliamentary elections.

The smaller, reformist faction demanded the expulsion of two lawmakers belonging to the larger faction, citing their suspected involvement in the scandal. The larger faction refused, while stirring further controversy over its alleged pro-North Korea views.

The four lawmakers ― Reps. Park Won-suk, Seo Ki-ho, Jeong Jin-hoo and Kim Je-nam ― told a news conference at the National Assembly their departure signals a break from the “hegemonic” behavior of their rival faction. All four are members of the smaller faction.

“We plan to join chairman Kang Ki-kab in creating a new progressive party for the people and establishing a truly reformed form of progressive politics the people wish for,” they said. 

(Yonhap News)