(ATTN: CHANGES lead; UPDATES with the latest vote count in paras 2-7)
By Kim Han-joo
SEOUL, April 11 (Yonhap) — The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) retained a majority in the National Assembly in Wednesday’s general elections in another major setback for the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and President Yoon Suk Yeol.
With almost all votes counted, the DP won 161 out of 254 directly contested seats, while the PPP won only 90 seats. Including proportional seats, the DP was expected to win 176 seats and the PPP 109 seats in the 300-member National Assembly.
The results illustrated the seriously soured public sentiment toward the Yoon administration just two years after he came into office, with the PPP barely managing to prevent the broader opposition bloc from taking a two-thirds majority.
In the previous elections four year ago, the then ruling DP also clinched a landslide victory by securing a combined 180 seats with its satellite party while the United Future Party, the PPP’s former name, and its sister party got 103 seats.
This combined photo shows officials of the main opposition Democratic Party (L), including it leader Lee Jae-myung, clap at the National Assembly in Seoul on April 10, 2024. In contrast, officials of the ruling People Power Party, including its interim leader Han Dong-hoon, look gloomy at the National Assembly in Seoul on April 10, 2024. (Yonhap)
Of the votes cast for the 46 proportional seats, more than 86 percent have been counted.
In the proportional race, the PPP’s sister People Future Party was leading with 38 percent, followed by the DP’s sister Democratic United Party with 26 percent and the Rebuilding Korea Party, a minor opposition party led by scandal-tainted former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, with 24 percent.
The ballot count monitoring room of the ruling People Power Party remains mostly empty at the National Assembly in Seoul on April 10, 2024. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
This year’s vote carried extra weight for the PPP as a failure to regain a majority could potentially render the Yoon administration a lame duck for the remaining three years of his single five-year term, ending in 2027.
The PPP has pleaded for voter support, imploring that the Yoon administration has been unable to push its reform agenda properly forward for the past two years due to the uncooperative parliament under opposition control.
The DP, on the other hand, has urged voters to pass stern judgment on what it calls the “incompetent” Yoon administration, accusing it of causing the economy and the livelihoods of the people to worsen seriously and mishandling a series of controversial issues for the past two years.
Following the release of exit poll results Wednesday, PPP leader Han Dong-hoon expressed disappointment.
“The PPP did its best to do politics that uphold the will of the people, but the exit poll results are disappointing,” Han said after watching the results at the National Assembly with party members. “We will watch the results of vote counting until the end.”
Han is set to make an announcement regarding the election outcome later, probably after the final outcome, contrary to the tradition of the party leader making the announcement amid the voting count.
Lee Jae-myung (C), head of the main opposition Democratic Party and a candidate in the Gyeyang-B district in Incheon, 27 kilometers west of Seoul, is at his election office on April 11, 2024, amid forecasts by TV exit polls of his party’s landslide victory in the general elections the previous day. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
Following the announcement of his victory in Incheon’s Gyeyang-B district early Thursday, DP Chairman Lee emphasized that he will stop the regression of the country’s state affairs and make it move toward the future once again.
With 99.98 percent of the vote counted, Lee secured 54.12 percent against 45.45 percent won by former Land Minister Won Hee-ryong of the PPP.
Cho, the former justice minister, also hailed the exit poll results as a victory for the people.
“The people have won,” Cho said after watching the exit polls Wednesday. “The people have made their intent clear that it is a verdict handed down to the Yoon Suk Yeol government.”
Cho said the results showed that the people can “no longer put up with the regression” of the government, urging Yoon to humbly accept the election outcome.
Officials of the minor Rebuilding Korea Party, including its leader Cho Kuk (C, front row), react at the National Assembly in Seoul on April 10, 2024, as TV exit polls project their performance in the general elections to choose 300 lawmakers as positive. (Yonhap)
Observers have stressed the significance of the wider Seoul area, considering it the primary battleground that will ultimately shape the election outcome.
Most constituencies in the region, including 46 in Seoul, are expected to be won by DP candidates.
In contrast, some PPP candidates emerged victorious in some districts after closely contested races.
In Seoul’s Dongjak-B district, Na Kyung-won of the PPP was on the verge of securing victory against DP candidate Ryu Sam-young. Na would become a five-term lawmaker if confirmed.
In a surprise outcome, Lee Jun-seok, an ousted former leader of the PPP, also secured his first-ever parliamentary seat in the Hwaseong-B district in Gyeonggi Province.
Lee Jun-seok of the New Reform Party smiles after securing victory in the Gyeonggi Hwaseong-B district, where he is running for a parliamentary seat, on April 10, 2024. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
Voter turnout recorded the highest in 32 years.
A total of 14,259 polling stations across the nation closed at 6 p.m. Wednesday, after some 29.66 million, or 67 percent, of the total 44.28 million eligible voters had cast their ballots for 12 hours, according to the National Election Commission. The results were tentative.
The turnout was 0.8 percentage point higher than the 2020 tally of 66.2 percent, marking the highest turnout for general elections since 1992, when the turnout came in at 71.9 percent.
khj@yna.co.kr
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