Disputes escalated further on Sunday as some lawmakers seek to visit China this week in an apparent protest against Seoul’s plan to station a U.S. anti-missile system here.

Six first-termers of The Minjoo Party of Korea pledged to push ahead with their plan to meet with Chinese academics and South Korean residents there starting Tuesday. The delegation has been openly displaying resistance to the government‘s decision to install a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense deployment battery in the southern part of the peninsula. 

With signs of Chinese retaliation in the economic and cultural sectors, the ruling Saenuri Party labeled the three-day trip as “unpatriotic” and “humiliating.” Even senior members of the Minjoo camp, including interim chief Rep. Kim Chong-in, let out skepticism.

The disputed visit came amid China’s intensifying media offensive especially involving South Korea’s top officials and scholars who staged a protest against the deployment decision.

Cheong Wa Dae on Sunday called for the trip to be “reconsidered,” expressing regret over the participants’ failure to consult with the administration in advance as “responsible politicians who should place top priority on national interests.” 

“The fundamental reason that we decided to deploy THAAD was the increasing level of nuclear and missile threats from North Korea,” said Kim Sung-woo, senior presidential secretary for public affairs.

He thereby refuted the Chinese media‘s claim that it was the deployment decision that provoked the communist state in the first place, a scenario which places the blame upon Seoul and Washington.

“The lawmakers’ visit, regardless of their true intention, would only offer a chance to help harden China’s stance and deepen our own internal strife,” Kim said. 

Though the Minjoo Party had remained cautious about having a united voice on the issue, the number of dissenters has risen in particular while its chair was on vacation last week.

Upon his comeback, Kim Chong-in sought to contain the furor, raising concerns that the six lawmakers may be “taken advantage of” by China.

“Under the situation where the interests of China and the U.S. sharply clash, our interests can be protected by presenting a domestically unified will,” he told Yonhap News Agency.

“When it comes to attacking the government and ruling party, the opposition should draw a line between what’s possible and not. … Haggling on such an issue isn’t good for the nation.”

The runner-up opposition People’s Party, too, has displayed some skepticism over the Minjoo members‘ trip.

“I believe at this point it’s more important to gather the party platform toward the revocation of the deployment plan rather than visiting China,“ said the party’s policymaker Rep. Kim Song-sik on Friday.

The six delegation members defended their corner for their part. Kim Young-ho said late Friday the visit was “exaggerated” and their major objective was to deliver South Korea’s message that China should refrain from economic retaliation or any “relationship-damaging” acts.

Rep. Sohn Hye-won, another participant, has also expressed frustration over the criticism. “Isn’t it the right thing to do for a normal state and a normal press to encourage us to make efforts so that our country would not suffer any disadvantage? We’re not going there to sell out our own nation,” she wrote on her Facebook page last Thursday.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)