South Korean PRESIDENT Yoon Suk-yeol promises reform. The statement came after Han Dong-hoon’s People’s Power Party (PPP), Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and a number of senior aides resigned because the opposition party controlled parliament.
This result has left Yoon as a politically weak president for the remaining three years of his term. That’s in addition to the economic and security challenges from North Korea.
“There will be more extreme confrontation between Yoon and the opposition in the next parliament, especially with the election of a candidate who has vowed to take a very hawkish stance towards his government,” said Shin Yul, professor of political science at Myongji University.
Yoon, 63, has taken a tough line against nuclear-armed North Korea while improving ties with Washington and former colonial power Japan.
But the former prosecutor is unloved by voters, and many are angry about inequality, high housing prices and youth unemployment in the country of 51 million people.
The opposition also criticized Yoon after he said the price of spring onions, a staple of Korean cooking, was reasonable and a video of his wife receiving a US$2,200 designer handbag was widely circulated.
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“I will humbly respect the will of the people expressed in the general election, reform state affairs, and do my best to stabilize the economy and people’s livelihoods,” Yoon said, according to his chief of staff Lee Kwan-sup.
With all the votes counted on Thursday, results from the National Election Commission and major broadcasters showed the conservative People’s Power Party (PPP) led by Yoon and its satellites plummeting from 114 seats in parliament to just 108.
The biggest winner was the Democratic Party (DP) led by Lee Jae-myung and his partners, whose number of seats increased to 175 from 156 seats in the legislative body at the end of its term.
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The newly founded Rebuilding Korea Party, led by former justice minister Cho Kuk, exploited dissatisfaction with the two main parties to gain 12 seats.
However, the vote share was not as impressive as opinion polls showed, all opposition parties failed to achieve a supermajority of 200 seats in the 300-member National Assembly.
South Korea uses a mix of first-past-the-post seats and proportional representation and has a single legislative chamber. The president can only serve one five-year term.
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The parliamentary election results were sweet revenge for Lee, 60, who narrowly lost the presidential election to Yoon in 2022 and in January was stabbed in the neck while campaigning.
“This is not a victory for the Democratic Party, but a big victory for the people,” said the former factory worker, Thursday (11/4) morning.
Lee has won support for his policies including cash giveaways to young people, free school uniforms, and prenatal care. He may now have another shot at the top spot.
But critics call the former human rights lawyer a populist and point to a series of corruption allegations dogging him, which he sees as politically motivated.
“The challenges facing Lee and DP currently are more lurking in the long term than in the short term. “People’s support for the party is now the basis for the overall dissatisfaction with Yoon,” said George Mason University Professor Byunghwan Son.
Yoon hopes the PPP will win a majority in parliament and push through its legislative agenda. This included a health care reform plan that was supported by voters but sparked a crippling strike by doctors and a promise to abolish the gender equality ministry.
But the parliamentary election results represent the biggest political crisis Yoon has experienced since he took power, the conservative daily newspaper Chosun Ilbo said.
Even if the opposition fails to secure a supermajority or two-thirds control of parliament that would allow them to try and impeach Yoon, the president remains in a precarious position.
“If Yoon cannot find a way to work with the opposition, there is the possibility of impeachment, which some factions in the ruling party may adhere to for the sake of their own political future,” Chae Jin-won of the Humanities College at Kyung Hee University told AFP. (AFP/Cah/Z-7)
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