SEOUL, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's main opposition Liberty Korea Party on Wednesday advised impeached former President Park Geun-hye and two lawmakers, seen as closest to the ousted leader, to voluntarily leave the party.
The party's reform committee announced the recommendation, saying Park should take a political responsibility for the failure in governing state affairs, according to local media reports.
If the recommendation is not accepted, Park and her closest aides would be subject to forcible defection from the party.
Park was impeached on March 10 and taken into custody for corruption charges involving her long-time confidante Choi Soon-sil who was also in custody and stood trial.
Reps. Suh Chung-won and Choi Kyung-hwan of the Liberty Korea Party were also recommended to voluntarily break away from the party for the heaviest responsibility for the state management failure.
The party would reportedly make a final decision on their defections around when a court was forecast to rule on the Park's case in mid-October.
Pro-Park lawmakers strongly protested against the announcement, heralding a division of the main opposition party, whose approval rating fell sharply after the influence-peddling scandal embroiling the ousted president was made known to the public.
