Lee Dong-young, the chief spokesman of the Justice Party, holds a press conference, Sunday, at the National Assembly in Seoul. Yonhap

The progressive minor opposition Justice Party voted down a reform motion advising all five of the party's proportional representation lawmakers to step down over the party's recent election defeats.

The motion recommending the resignation of the five Justice Party lawmakers on proportional representation seats, including Reps. Ryu Ho-jeong and Jang hye-yeong, was rejected in a party referendum conducted online from last Wednesday through Sunday, the party announced on its website.

A total of 59.25 percent voted against the motion in the referendum where 7,560 of the party's eligible 17,957 members cast ballots, according to the party.

The motion was proposed by a former chief spokesman of the party and others in the aftermath of its crushing defeats in the March presidential election and regional elections in June.

The Justice Party failed to win any mayoral, governor or ward office and county head seats in the regional elections while the party's candidate, Sim Sang-jeung, won only 2.4 percent in the presidential election.

The party's emergency response leadership and the five proportional representation lawmakers plan to announce their position on the issue in a leadership meeting and press conference, respectively, Monday morning, a party official said. (Yonhap)