The main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea said Wednesday its internal committee has excluded 10 lawmakers including a high-profile activist-turn-politician from being nominated for candidacy in the upcoming general elections.

With less than 50 days away from the general elections in April, the opposition party unveiled a list of the lower 20 percent of applicants who had been screened out in the outcome of its so-called cutoff.

The list included Rep. Lim Su-kyung, a female activist-turn-politician and five-term lawmaker Moon Hee-sang, it said.

Lim, the former pro-unification activist, made an unauthorized trip to North Korea in 1989 and met with then-leader Kim Il-sung, the North's founder and grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un.

The party's move raised the number of those whom it viewed as unqualified and gave up an election bid to 13 out of its 108 incumbent lawmakers.

The party's nomination management committee said that it plans to scrutinize applicants further.

The New Politics Alliance for Democracy renamed itself as the Minjoo Party of Korea late last year after suffering from severe internal strife. (Yonhap)