The ruling Uri Party is moving to jump-start its stalled drive to do away with the nation��s anti-communist law, which carries harsh penalties for expressing sympathy with DPRK.

In a party's forum Wednesday morning, a group of 46 lawmakers agreed to put forth a bill late this month aiming to annul what they claim is a "draconian" law.

"The National Security Law, which defines DPRK as an anti-state organization, is an obstacle we have to overcome to promote reconciliation and cooperation between the two Koreas," said student activist-turned-legislator Im Jong-seok.

The law, enacted in 1948 and subsequently revised seven times, has long been an object of controversy as it has often been used by past authoritarian governments as a tool to crack down on pro-democracy activists and opposition figures.

The lawmakers, mostly in their 40s, will also launch a signature-collecting campaign in a bid to jostle for attention from fellow lawmakers from other parties.

The progressive Democratic Labor Party recently lent an air of optimism to the Uri's frontrunners by announcing the 10-strong party will also throw its weight behind the drive to scrap the National Security Law.

To scrap the law, Uri needs majority support in the 299-seat single-chamber legislature, where the ruling party, composed of President Roh Moo-hyun's avid supporters, now holds a slim majority of 152 seats.

But with most of the conservative Grand National Party (GNP) lawmakers and a few Uri Party legislators against the plan, the overall goal is an open question.

GNP chairwoman Park Geun-hye's father, the late militant ruler Park Chung-hee, was also ruthless against political opponents although he was credited with dragging the nation��s economy up from the mire in the 1960s and 1970s.

Former president Kim Dae-jung, himself once a victim of the law, has been also seeking to soften the controversial elements of the law.

Under the law, South Koreans who praise or encourage the activities of a pro-Pyongyang organization or its members can be punished.

The clause has been criticized by the United Nations as infringing on the basic human right of freedom of expression and DPRK has long demanded the law be dropped as a prerequisite to improved relations with the South.

Source: Agencies