Published : Feb. 14, 2017 - 10:37
South Korea's ruling Liberty Korea Party returned lapel badges to its lawmakers in a symbolic gesture of normalization Tuesday, a day after changing the name to improve its image tarnished by a corruption scandal centered on President Park Geun-hye.
Earlier in January, tens of its members had handed in their lawmaker badges to the party's headquarters amid the public's criticism after the impeachment of Park from office. The lawmakers then asked In Myung-jin, the interim head, to decide on their fate amid the party's purge of Park loyalists.
In Myung-jin (R), the interim head of the Liberty Korea Party, clips a lawmaker lapel badge to Rep. Bak Maeng-woo at the party's headquarters in Seoul on Feb. 14, 2017. (Yonhap)
"We do not intend to say the party has been overhauled, or claim we are no longer Saenuri just because we changed our name," In said. "We are not free of the responsibilities just because we adopted a new title."
The interim head said the party will continue to remember past mistakes and continue on with reforms.
In, meanwhile, also criticized the Bareun Party, which spun off from the Liberty Korea Party after Park's impeachment, for dodging its responsibility in the scandal. (Yonhap)