In this June 4, 2021, file photo, people hold LED candles to mark the anniversary of the military crackdown on a pro-democracy student movement in Beijing, outside Victoria Park in Hong Kong. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

       HONG KONG (Kyodo) -- The resignation of pro-democracy Hong Kong district councilors has topped 150 this week on fears of their impending disqualification, meaning more than half of the camp has signaled their intention to leave the legislature, media reported Saturday.

       The mass resignations continued ahead of an oath-taking ceremony expected to take place on July 20, during which district councilors are required to pledge allegiance to the government, including a promise to uphold the Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini-constitution. Those who fail to take the oath will be disqualified.

       By the end of June, some 40 others had resigned preemptively, a report in the online news portal Stand News said. The pro-democracy camp has held about 390 district council seats or about 80 percent of the total.

       Some local media reported Wednesday that about 230 pro-democracy district councilors deemed "unpatriotic" will be disqualified even if they take the oath and will also be required to pay back the salaries they have received, prompting many to resign en masse.

       Democratic Party chief Lo Kin-hei on Friday wrote an open letter to Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, asking that she clarify the requirement to repay wages, arguing that the government had no legal grounds to reclaim the salaries, some local media reported.

       District councilors subject to the impending disqualification include those involved in unofficial primaries held in July last year for the since-postponed Legislative Council election and those who had displayed a banned protest slogan in their offices, according to the media reports.

       A bill mandating oath-taking was passed in May in a bid to oust pro-democracy members from district councils. The pro-democracy camp won an unprecedented landslide majority in local elections in November 2019, capturing over 80 percent of the 452 directly elected seats and gaining control over 17 of Hong Kong's 18 district councils.

       District councils have been Hong Kong's most democratic bodies, with all but 27 representatives directly elected.

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