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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

Counting votes by hand

National Election Commission staff count votes by hand at a ballot counting station in Seoul's Yeongdeungpo-gu, Wednesday, after the April 15 general election to form the 21st National Assembly ended earlier in the evening. The counting is expected to be completed this morning. Machines for electronic counting could not process the longest-ever ballot paper for the proportional representation vote, in which 35 parties participated. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Apr 15, 2020
Counting votes by hand

Ruling party wins crushing victory in parliamentary elections

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea candidate Lee Nak-yon holds up a bouquet of flowers at his election office in Jongno, Wednesday, after his almost certain victory over Hwang Kyo-ahn, chairman of the main opposition United Future Party, for a National Assembly seat representing the central Seoul constituency in the general election Wednesday. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-sukBy Do Je-hae The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) cilnched a landslide victory in Wednesday's general election.In the election selecting 300 members of the National Assembly, the DPK obtained 163 out of 253 constituencies, according to the National Election Commission (NEC), Thursday. When including proportional representation seats which its satellite party, Civil Together, may win, the ruling bloc is expected to have 180 seats in total. The final result will come out later in the afternoon.The main opposition United Future Party (UFP) won in 84 constituencies. A victory in this election is the latest in the DPK's streak of election sweeps since the general election in 2016, the presidential election

Apr 15, 2020By Do Je-hae
Ruling party wins crushing victory in parliamentary elections
  • Highest-ever turnout for early voting boosts overall turnout
  • Self-isolators vote after regular hours
  • 18-year-olds hit the polls for first time in Korea

Highest-ever turnout for early voting boosts overall turnout

Voters line up to cast their ballots at a polling station in Seoul's Mapo-gu, Wednesday, in this year's general election to form the 21st National Assembly. Yonhap By Jung Da-min The highest-ever turnout for early voting ahead of the April 15 general election led to the highest turnout for overall voting in such an election in 28 years.As of 6 p.m. Wednesday, the overall turnout reached 66.2 percent, 8.2 percentage points higher than the 58 percent recorded in the previous general election in 2016, and the highest for a general election since 1992, according to the National Election Commission (NEC).More than 29.1 million out of 43.9 million eligible voters cast ballots at 14,330 polling stations to elect 300 lawmakers to form the 21st National Assembly. The voters cast two ballots, one for the 253 single-member constituencies and the other for the remaining 47 proportional representation seats. The high turnout is credited to the record-high numbers that participat

Apr 15, 2020
Highest-ever turnout for early voting boosts overall turnout
  • Ruling party wins crushing victory in parliamentary elections

Moon set to push for post-virus economic rebound

Lee Nak-yon, center bottom, a former prime minister and a candidate of the ruling Democratic Party, watches TVs broadcasting results of exit polls for the parliamentary election at the National Assembly in Seoul, Wednesday. AP-YonhapBy Kim Yoo-chulPresident Moon Jae-in, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the Cheong Wa Dae economic team are expected to talk up the prospects of a rapid economic rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic as the results of the general election are expected to bolster his position, presidential aides and political analysts said Wednesday.As the Korean president serves a single five-year term with no possibility of re-election, the results were “considered” crucial for Moon and the ruling DPK. Accordingly Moon doesn't appear to need to worry about entering “lame-duck” status for now as they will clearly give him a fresh impetus in pushing forward his economic agenda which had been stalled by the pandemic.With the DPK retaining control of the National Assembly, Moon is expected to continue to try and narrow the widening gap betwe

Apr 15, 2020By Kim Yoo-chul
Moon set to push for post-virus economic rebound
  • Moon likely to have steady state management in remaining term

Self-isolators vote after regular hours

An election authority in protective clothing receives a self-quarantined voter at a polling station in Seoul, Wednesday. Voters ordered to isolate themselves to prevent COVID-19 infections were allowed to vote after regular voting ended at 6 p.m. / YonhapBy Jun Ji-hyeEligible voters who have been in self-quarantine to contain the spread of COVID-19 were also allowed to cast ballots for the National Assembly elections, Wednesday, in a decision made by the election watchdog to guarantee their right to vote. The National Election Commission (NEC) permitted people, who have been ordered to isolate themselves between April 1 and 14 and shown no symptoms of the virus, to vote in the general elections after regular voting ended at 6 p.m.According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, 13,642, or 22.8 percent, out of the total of 59,918 eligible voters under self-quarantine have applied to vote in the election.The self-isolators are people who came into contact with infected patients, and those who returned home from overseas amid the global coronavirus pandemic.By region, applicants in Seo

Apr 15, 2020
Self-isolators vote after regular hours
  • Ruling party wins crushing victory in parliamentary elections

'COVID-19 cannot stop us from voting'

Voters wait in line to cast their ballots in the National Assembly general election at a polling station in Seoul's Songpa District, Wednesday. / YonhapBy Lee Hyo-sik, Jun Ji-hyeMany people turned out to vote for a new National Assembly, Wednesday, although they were asked to comply with strict quarantine guidelines at polling stations to prevent the possible spread of COVID-19. The country's general election was the world's first nationwide election during the pandemic.A 34-year-old businessman who lives in Seoul's Jungnang District said, “I was concerned about COVID-19, but I did not even think about giving up my right to vote as I wanted to vote for a new Assembly member who will truly work hard for this country.”All voters were asked to wear face masks, sanitize their hands and wear plastic gloves at the polling stations.The election authorities put green or white tape on the floor to mark a 1-meter distance, advising voters to maintain a safe social distance from each other while waiting in line.Voters were asked to take off their masks only when the authorities chec

Apr 15, 2020
'COVID-19 cannot stop us from voting'

Moon likely to have steady state management in remaining term

President Moon Jae-in participates in a video conference with the leaders of China, Japan and ASESN member countries from Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday. Public support for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea in Wednesday's general election is forecast to allow him to push ahead with key policies during the remainder of his term that ends in May 2022. Courtesy of Cheong Wa DaeBy Yi Whan-wooOptimism is rising that President Moon Jae-in will be able to run state affairs steadily for the remainder of his term with the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) expected to win big in Wednesday's general election.If the ruling party and the liberal bloc take the majority of the 300-seat National Assembly, his policies are expected to more easily get parliamentary endorsement.Such a result has come after public approval for the President and the ruling party bounced back from the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic when criticism mounted over the government's poor response to the outbreak. The high approval rates in recent surveys indicate the public has given high marks for the Moon administration

Apr 15, 2020By Yi Whan-woo
Moon likely to have steady state management in remaining term
  • Moon set to push for post-virus economic rebound

Winner in premier duel to leap forward in presidential bid

Lee Nak-yon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea running in the Jongno District in central Seoul in the general election casts his vote at a polling station in Gyonam-dong, Wednesday. / Korea Times photo by Lee Han-ho By Kang Seung-woo For some political bigwigs, Wednesday's general election was about more than winning a seat in the 300-strong National Assembly. With the next presidential election slated for March 2022, each party is expected to begin to field its candidate by the end of next year.In that respect, high-profile politicians' victories in the quadrennial general election could mean them taking one step forward as potential presidential contenders, while those who suffer defeats may see their political careers ― let alone their presidential bids ― at risk.As election season unfolded earlier this year, all attention was focused on the Jongno District in central Seoul as two former prime ministers from the incumbent and previous governments ― Lee Nak-y

Apr 15, 2020By Kang Seung-woo
Winner in premier duel to leap forward in presidential bid
  • Veteran politicians fail to survive general election

Ruling party projected to win majority seats

Lee Hae-chan, chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, right, and Lee Nak-yon, who runs in Seoul's key constituency of Jongno, shake hands after exit polls predicted the party's victory. YonhapThe ruling Democratic Party (DP) and its affiliated party are expected to secure more than a majority of parliamentary seats in Wednesday's general elections, exit polls showed.The DP and the Platform Party, a satellite sister party that only targets proportional representation (PR) seats, are expected to win 155-178 seats in the 300-member National Assembly, according to the poll by South Korea's public broadcaster KBS.The main opposition United Future Party (UFP) and its affiliated Future Korea Party are likely to win 107-130 seats.Another poll by MBC showed the ruling bloc winning 153-170 seats against the UFP and its sister party's 116-133 slots. An SBS poll forecast the DP and the Platform Party winning 154-177 seats and their main rivals holding 107-131 seats.South Korea held the quadrennial parliamentary elections earlier in the day to fill the 300-seat unicameral National Assem

Apr 15, 2020
Ruling party projected to win majority seats

18-year-olds hit the polls for first time in Korea

Eighteen-year-olds have been given the right to vote in this year's general election for the first time in Korea after the National Assembly passed an electoral reform bill lowering the voting age to 18 from 19 last year. Korea Times fileNew 18-year-old voters cast their ballots in a general election for the first time on Wednesday amid concerns that the coronavirus may affect the turnout of the new voters.In late 2019, the National Assembly passed an electoral reform bill lowering the voting age from 19 to 18 and allowing eligible high school students to vote.Until last year, South Korea was the only country among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries that did not grant voting rights to 18-year-olds.Although the spread of the coronavirus emerged as a key element of setback that could lower voter turnout, many young voters headed to polling stations with hopes their votes could change Korean society for the better."It feels good to become a proud voter of South Korea ... I came to the polls excited to cast my first vote and to exercise my votin

Apr 15, 2020
18-year-olds hit the polls for first time in Korea
  • Ruling party wins crushing victory in parliamentary elections
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