By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) was deemed the winner of by-elections Wednesday, taking three of five National Assembly seats up for grabs.

The governing Grand National Party (GNP) barely defended two seats in its home turf of Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, and Gangneung, Gangwon Province.

Voter turnout was 39 percent, higher than the average of by-elections held over the past four years (34.9 percent).

As a result, the GNP now commands 169 seats in the 299-member National Assembly, while the DP has 86.

The DP successfully defended its home turf in North Chungcheong Province, and added two more seats in swing districts in Gyeonggi Province.

Campaign watchers said the higher than expected turnout indicated that the campaign heated up as more voters came to ballot boxes to vote against ruling party candidates.

In the battleground of Suwon, Lee Chan-yeol of the DP defeated his GNP rival Park Chan-sook, a former lawmaker, playing a decisive role in helping the opposition party become the winner of the by-elections.

Former Gyeonggi Governor Sohn Hak-kyu was behind Lee's election, campaigning for him for almost a month.

The governing party lost the swing district even after Chairman Chung Mong-joon stayed there during the campaign to support Park.

Political analysts say Chung's leadership is likely to be challenged due the disappointing campaign results.

Chung, who has a weak power base inside the ruling party, became the party leader in September after Park Hee-tae stepped down.

In Yangsan, the former GNP chairman beat Song In-bae of the DP, formerly a presidential secretary in the Roh Moo-hyun administration, by a slight margin.

Voter turnout in Yangsan was the highest of the five elections at 43.9 percent.

The turnout and the narrow margin in the ruling GNP's home turf hinted that the DP candidate's challenge to Park was much fiercer than expected.

The plan to relocate nine ministries and four government agencies out of Seoul had become a campaign issue after the ruling camp showed signs of scaling it back.

Campaign watchers said this agitated local residents who had high expectations over the move.

Former lawmaker Kim Young-hwan who ran in the Ansan election on the DP ticket defeated GNP candidate Song Jin-seop by a double-digit margin.

In the Gangneung election, GNP candidate Kwon Sun-dong, a former prosecutor, had a big win over his DP rival.

hkang@koreatimes.co.kr