Investigators attempted to search two buildings of the Unified Progressive Party Monday in an election fraud probe, meeting fierce resistance from party members.

The action came as internal feuds deepened in the leftist party with rival factions forming separate leadership bodies, bringing it closer to disintegration.

Prosecutors raided the party’s headquarters and a company that manages its server computers early in the morning. But their entry was blocked by party officials.

They were acting on a complaint that Right Korea, a conservative civic group, filed earlier this month against the party’s former co-chairs and other officials involved in alleged rigging of its in-house election for proportional representatives ahead of parliamentary elections in April.

The prosecution had refrained from openly investigating the scandal. But it decided to proceed with the probe before those involved in the misdeeds destroy the evidence, officials said.

“The prosecution’s raid seriously infringes on the parties’ political freedom,” said Lee Jeong-mi, spokesperson of the emergency council of party reformers led by Kang Ki-kab.

“The government should not abuse its power, while the party is making efforts to clarify the voting irregularities.”

Kim Mi-hee, spokesperson for the opposition council, also demanded that the prosecution stop the search.

“The prosecution should halt its political plot to destroy progressive parties,” she said.

Kim also criticized Kang’s committee and the three former co-chairs ― Rhyu Si-min, Sim Sang-jeong, and Cho Jun-ho ― for providing the prosecution with the cause of intervention.

“The fact-finding committee came up with a flawed and partial report, which made people believe that the UPP’s primary was illicit,” Kim said.

“Kang’s committee also deepened the strife by demanding the unconditional resignation of the proportional representatives, which offered the prosecution an excuse to interfere.”

Despite the ongoing conflict, both factions agreed that the party member register should not be handed over to the authorities.

The disputed members of the resisting factions ― Lee Seog-gi and Kim Jae-yeon ― entered the headquarters soon after the prosecutors’ raid and set to blocking the search.

Kang pledged to safeguard the party register and staged a sit-in protest at the front entrance.

The main opposition Democratic United Party also issued a statement against the prosecution’s move.

“Prosecutors should respect the parties’ political freedom and let the UPP deal with its own problems,” said DUP spokesperson Park Yong-jin.

Park nevertheless urged the UPP to speed up its investigation to regain the people’s trust.

The UPP’s ongoing scandal is considered a negative factor for the DUP, which formed a left-wing alliance before the December presidential election.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)