Summary For this purpose, the government would move a petition in the court, seeking ban on leftist party.
SEOUL (AFP) - The South Korean government decided Tuesday to petition the constitutional court to disband a leftist political party branded as pro-North Korean.
The move to try and break up the Unified Progressive Party (UPP) was approved at a cabinet meeting which agreed that the party s objectives ran counter to the "basic democratic order of the constitution," Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-Ahn told reporters.
The cabinet vote came months after a number of UPP members, including MP Lee Seok-Ki, were arrested on charges of plotting an armed revolt in support of North Korea.
Hwang said Lee headed a group that formed the core of the UPP and followed North Korea s strategy to "revolutionise the South".
The UPP reacted by accusing President Park Geun-Hye s government of "trampling" over democratic principles.
The party also suggested it was an effort to distract attention from a widening probe into allegations that the domestic spy agency interfered in last December s presidential election.
"This is not only a suppression against the UPP but vandalism against democracy ... The demise of this regime has become inevitable," the UPP said in a statement.
