13 Bareun Party Lawmakers to Defect to Liberty Korea Party

With just a week remaining to the presidential election, 13 Bareun Party lawmakers have announced their return to the former ruling Liberty Korea Party to support its presidential candidate Hong Joon-pyo.
 
The lawmakers, who are unaligned with the Bareun Party's presidential nominee Yoo Seong-min, revealed the decision Tuesday after meeting with Hong the previous night.
 
In a news briefing at the National Assembly, Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, Kim Sung-tae, Kim Jae-kyung and others said they couldn't ignore public calls for a grand coalition of the conservative block when the nation's politics, economy and security are at an urgent state.
 
The decision came after Yoo rejected proposals for joining forces with Hong and Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party to field a single candidate.
 
Yoo told reporters that he is pained by the mass defection, but promised to run in the presidential election until the end.
 
The Bareun Party has already lost 14 lawmakers, including Rep. Lee Eun-jae who defected at the end of last month. It now has 19 lawmakers and is no longer a floor negotiation body, which requires 20 lawmakers.