South Korea’s Anti-Presidential Breakaway Faction to Create New Party

Local Editor

A faction from South Korea's Saenuri Party, who earlier vowed to leave the ruling group, are to set up a new party, with their first meeting scheduled for Friday, local media reported.

According to the faction, the new party name will be the New Conservative Party for Reform, Yonhap reported.

They intend to form a parliament negotiation group to face the National Assembly's current negotiation groups - Saenuri, the Democratic Party and the People's Party. The establishment of a parliament negotiation group requires at least 20 lawmakers.

The decision to leave the party due to concerns over the leadership was announced by around 35 lawmakers on Tuesday.

Political scandal around the president broke out in late October when media reported that Park allowed Choi, her friend and "shadow adviser," who held no official post, to edit her speeches thus letting her influence the country's policy.

Moreover, Choi is accused of pressuring South Korean big corporations and extorting money from them for her non-commercial funds.

On December 9, the South Korean parliament voted in favor of starting the process of impeachment against the embattled leader over the "shadow adviser" scandal involving Park's associate Choi Soon-sil.

The decision is now with the country's Constitutional Court. The country's Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn has become acting president until the constitutional court approves or rejects his appointment.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team