Yet another Bareun Party lawmaker to defect to LKP

By Choi Ha-young

Rep. Park In-sook of the Bareun Party announced Tuesday that she will rejoin the larger conservative Liberty Korea Party (LKP), leaving the minor conservative party with nine parliamentary seats.

The announcement came one day after Gyeonggi Province Governor Nam Kyung-pil, a former Bareun Party member, rejoined the LKP. Last week, Bareun Party lawmaker Kim Se-yeon also defected to the LKP. Rep. Kim was a close aide to party chief Yoo Seong-min.

“Out of respect for voters who picked me, I decided to rejoin the LKP,” Park said in a statement. “I couldn’t ignore my supporters and party members who showed dedication in my election.”

Park’s breakaway is especially painful to the Bareun Party because she has been working as a member of the decision-making Supreme Council. The party is currently preparing for a merger with the minor liberal People’s Party.

The Bareun Party was launched in early 2017 by 33 defectors from the Saenuri Party _ the predecessor of the LKP. They touted a “warm and clean conservative” version of the LKP, which was dominated by loyalists of ousted President Park Geun-hye. Because of the Bareun Party’s meager popularity in electoral districts, 24 of 33 lawmakers have left the party.

The continuous exodus overshadows the party’s envisioned merger. People’s Party Chairman Ahn Cheol-soo and Bareun Party Chairman Yoo are promptly moving this forward, in an attempt to survive in the upcoming local elections in June.

Even though they will be united, the number of the merged party’s seats in the National Assembly will be less than 30 ― about 20 from the People’s Party and nine from the Bareun Party ― far smaller than the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s 121 seats and the LKP’s 118 seats.