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-suk

By 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 in 2017 and local elections in 2018.

The election was seen as a crucial midterm test for President Moon Jae-in. The results are expected to boost Moon's confidence to push ahead with core policies in the economy, diplomacy, judicial reform and other areas during the remainder of his term which ends in May 2022.

"Speaking in general terms about the ruling Democratic Party's apparent victory, it appears voters overlooked an economy that was already performing poorly [even before the pandemic], and other controversies, to express their satisfaction with how President Moon Jae-in's handled COVID-19 to date despite some initial misgivings," Sean King, senior vice president at Park Strategies.

"South Korea hasn't done as well as Taiwan has against COVID-19 but has nonetheless done better than most. A rather ineffective conservative opposition, which remains in a state of disjointed disarray ever since former President Park Geun-hye's fall, made things even easier for the incumbents."

The UFP, a merger of conservative parties, is likely to face turmoil as its chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn announced he would resign from his post following his party's defeat in the election.

The ballot counting showed the ruling party leading in some of the other most coveted constituencies as of 11 p.m.

Voters have shown keen attention to the winner of the showdown between the DPK's Lee Nak-yon and Hwang in Seoul's Jongno district, which has produced several former presidents. As of 11 p.m. Lee was ahead of Hwang, 57.4 percent to 40.9 percent.

Among other notable candidates, Ko Min-jung of the DPK was in a neck-and-neck race against former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon of the UFP in the Gwangjin-B District of Seoul. Ko has run a campaign that stressed her close relationship with President Moon as his former spokeswoman.

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The DPK's Lee Soo-jin, a former judge and political rookie, was ahead of the UFP's Na Kyung-won, a multiple-term lawmaker, in Seoul's Dongjak-B.

The election recorded the highest voter turnout for a general election in 28 years with 66.2 percent of 43.9 million eligible voters having cast ballots at 14,330 polling stations.

"South Korea should be congratulated on a tremendous voter turnout in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. It's an inspiration to democracies worldwide," King said.

The results for the 47 proportional representation seats are set to be finalized later today. This will take longer than previous elections as the ballot paper was too long for counting machines to be used and so results are being tallied by hand. The paper was too long because 35 parties took part in the proportional representation vote under a new election system designed to give more seats to minor parties.

The high turnout has dispelled concerns before that elections that voters could shun going to the polls due to fears of mass gatherings amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But the number of new infections had dropped considerably ahead of the poll, and despite the social distancing campaign, a record number of people turned up for early voting last week.

The ruling party's performance is seen to reflect the public's level of approval of Moon's leadership in the wake of the pandemic, which has triggered concerns particularly over the economy, in addition to unforeseen social changes such as the opening of online classes for the country's schools.

The DPK rallied voters to put their support behind it and the Moon administration for a more stable management of state affairs to overcome COVID-19.

The main opposition had defined the election as a judgment of the Moon administration, which it says has failed the people on the economy, diplomacy and North Korea, and on responding to the coronavirus pandemic. The UFP blamed the Moon administration for an initial explosive rise in infections here compared to other Asian countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan by refusing to implement a comprehensive ban on travelers from China in the early stages of the pandemic, as advised by the medical community.

Unlike in previous general elections, Wednesday's vote captured keen attention outside the country as the first major nationwide election held after the outbreak of COVID-19.

"The international community is paying huge attention to the election. If we maintain our quarantine achievements during a nationwide election, we will be able to give hope to the world that we can resume a normal life," Moon said during a meeting with senior aides at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday.