[Anchor]
Six lawmakers of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea is in China to hold talks with Beijing officials and academics and to listen to their case against the planned THAAD deployment on Korean soil.
The move has drawn a mixed reaction from the party's leadership candidates, while the ruling Saenuri Party strongly criticized the trip.
Julie Sohn has more.
[Report]
The trip had led to internal divisions within the main opposition party.
Candidates Kim Sang-gon (김상곤) and Chu Mi-ae (추미애) who are running for the Minjoo's leadership race, welcomed the six first-term lawmakers trip to Beijing as a desirable move.
Candidate Lee Jong-kul (이종걸), however, while partly expressing his support, said it could lead to creation of an anti-THAAD fraction that China could take advantage of.
President Park Geun-hye strongly criticized the visit, saying there must be no differences in political views between the ruling and opposition parties when it comes to such a security issue where people's lives are at stake.
Her stance was backed by the ruling Saenuri Party, with spokesman Ji Sang-wook (지상욱) saying the six lawmakers are not even qualified to represent the Korean parliament.
Meanwhile, People's Party interim leader Park Jie-won criticized the presidential office for interfering in the visit, describing it as a move that could stimulate China.
The Minjoo's Kim Young-ho (김영호) and five other first-term lawmakers who embarked on the three-day trip this forming, told reporters they were leaving with a strong sense of duty to thaw strained relations between Seoul and Beijing.
Beijing's opposition to THAAD peaked over the weekend when its state-media claimed that North Korea's recent ballistic missile launches were triggered by Seoul's THAAD decision in early July.
Julie Sohn, eFM News.■
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