Opposition party in South Korea secures landslide victory
South Korean voters delivered a stinging rebuke to conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol and his People Power Party in midterm parliamentary elections, official results confirmed Thursday, sending the opposition Democratic Party to a landslide victory.
With all votes counted from Wednesday’s polls, the Democratic Party and its satellite party claimed 175 out of 300 seats in the National Assembly, holding onto a majority that will impede Yoon’s agenda for the remaining three years of his mandatory single five-year term.
Yoon’s People Power Party and its allies claimed only 108 seats in the unicameral legislature.
The opposition bloc was further bolstered by a strong showing from the new Rebuilding Korea Party, led by scandal-hit former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, which won 12 seats.
“I will humbly uphold the will of the people as shown in the general election,” Yoon said Thursday, as quoted by presidential chief of staff Lee Kwanseop at a press conference. “I will reform the state administration and do my best to stabilize the economy and enhance people’s livelihoods.”
The vote was widely seen as a midterm referendum on Yoon, who has been saddled with low approval ratings over his handling of a wide range of issues from sky-high housing prices and soaring food costs to concerns over the country’s plunging birth rate, which is the lowest in the world.
Yoon’s gaffe over the price of green onions during a visit to a supermarket last month became a rallying cry of his opponents, who accused the president of being out of touch with the concerns of everyday people.
The former prosecutor has also been at the center of a standoff with striking trainee doctors that has dragged on since February, while his administration has been beset by corruption allegations, including a highly publicized scandal around first lady Kim Keon Hee accepting the gift of a Dior bag.
Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung said Thursday that the party would take the lead in working to resolve economic issues after its landslide victory.
“The outcome of the general election is not a victory for the Democratic Party, but a great victory for the people,” Lee said at an election task force event.
“The Democratic Party will do its utmost to uphold the precious will contained in each vote exercised by the people,” he said. “We will do our best to alleviate the suffering of people’s livelihoods and resolve the national crisis.”
Lee is battling corruption accusations of his own and is currently facing trials over a range of charges including bribery.
Yoon took office in 2022 after edging out Lee by a razor-thin margin. The Democratic Party has held a majority in parliament since 2020, however, severely hampering Yoon’s efforts to push through economic reforms that include taking on labor unions and reducing regulations on businesses.
Yoon has had more success establishing his agenda on the foreign policy front, where Seoul has taken a harder line against North Korea and strengthened security cooperation with the United States and Japan.
Voters turned out in high numbers at 14,259 polling stations nationwide on Wednesday. More than 29.6 million people, or 67% of eligible voters, cast a ballot, according to the National Election Commission. The figure was the highest turnout in 32 years for a general election.