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Park supporters seek to rebuild Saenuri Party

March 17, 2017 - 16:48 By KH디지털2

Die-hard supporters of the disgraced former President Park Geun-hye are moving to create their own political party and held inaugural gatherings in Daegu and Seoul this week to set up regional chapters.

The Park supporters vowing to fight to nullify the Constitutional Court's decision to oust Park from the presidency have chosen an interesting name for their party -- Saenuri Party.

Supporters of Park Geun-hye meet in Seoul on March 17, 2017, to establish a regional chapter of the Saenuri Party. (Yonhap)

The Saenuri Party is an old name for the Liberty Korea Party, which is now struggling to recover from the repercussions of the unprecedented corruption and influence-peddling scandal involving Park and her friend.

Saenuri's Pro-Park lawmakers and conservatives changed their party name to the Liberty Korea Party after it lost its ruling party status following Park's ouster, seeking to refurbish an image tarnished by the corruption scandal. The Saenuri Party came into being in 2012 under the leadership of Park.

Park's supporters launched the revived Saenuri Party's first regional chapter in Daegu, dubbed the political home of the former president, on Thursday. They said as many as 1,500 people joined the Daegu chapter.

They also established a chapter in Seoul Friday and plan to open more in Gangwon and North Gyeongsang provinces by early next week.

Park's supporters said they want to revive the party name of Saenuri to safeguard the impeached president and South Korea's constitutional spirit.

After the Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of Park a week ago, her loyalists have been staging outdoor rallies, claiming that the ruling was not fair. (Yonhap)