The presidential race has entered a new phase with less than a week to go before Tuesday’s election, as 13 lawmakers of the Bareun Party quit the conservative group and joined the other conservative Liberty Korea Party to support the latter’s candidate Hong Joon-pyo on Tuesday.

At least one more from the Bareun Party, whose candidate is Yoo Seong-min, is poised to join the defection in the coming days. Their move comes amid Yoo’s low support of about 4-5 percent in polls, the lowest among the five major contenders.

The 13 defectors included Reps. Kweon Seong-dong, Kim Sung-tae, Chang Je-won and Hwang Young-cheul, who actively participated in passing the impeachment bill of then-President Park Geun-hye in December.

The representatives had been met with public support upon joining the move to oust Park, but are now at the center of public criticism due to their return to the Liberty Korea Party.

Their move is not a simple defection, as it means their return to their original stronghold: The Bareun Party split from the former Saenuri Party after the Park and Choi Soon-sil scandal emerged. The Liberty Korea Party is the de facto successor of the Saenuri Party.

Hong, whose support is hovering around 15 percent, welcomed the move, while Yoo has reiterated that he will not drop out from the race. Some Bareun lawmakers have continued to pressure Yoo to resign as a candidate.

“It is desirable for them to come back in terms of widely consolidating conservatives,” Hong told reporters. He also argued there was no longer a pro-Park faction in the Liberty Korea Party, dismissing worries over internal disputes with the defectors.

Yoo said he “would not make any comment on it (the 13 lawmakers’ departure).” He also made clear he would not consider a coalition with Hong.

Many have denounced the move. Online commenters’ responses included: “Bareun proved that birds of a feather flock together,” “they revealed themselves as fake conservatives” and “they are still looking down on voters.”

Democratic Party of Korea Floor Leader Woo Sang-ho criticized the move as well, asking, “Why did they impeach (Park) then?” He said it was time for the party’s candidate Moon Jae-in to be alert over conservative voters’ concerted support for Hong.

A spokesman for centrist candidate Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party cast concerns over the growing possibility the election will become a conventional showdown between left-wing and right-wing voters. He said Ahn’s camp is pinning hopes on centrist and moderate conservative voters.

Some have alleged that Reps. Kim Moo-sung and Joo Ho-young initiated the mass defection from the party. Kim has reportedly halted support of campaign activities for candidate Yoo.

As of Tuesday, the number of parliamentary seats held by the Bareun Party dropped from 33 to 20. If one more lawmaker leaves, the party will lose its status as a floor negotiation group at the National Assembly, which requires 20 seats at least.

The number of seats for the Liberty Korea Party has increased to 106, while the Democratic Party holds 119 and the People’s Party has 39.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)