Landslide win for opposition in South Korea election in huge blow to president Yoon Suk Yeol

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South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party (DP) and its allies scored a landslide victory in Wednesday’s elections for the 300-seat legislature.

The Democratic Party was projected to take 175 seats in the new assembly, data from the National Election Commission and network broadcasters showed.

A splinter liberal party considered allied with the DP was expected to take 12 seats, projections showed, leaving the bloc short of the 200 seats needed for a super-majority.

The results of Wednesday’s elections were a huge blow to president Yoon Suk Yeol, likely setting back his domestic agenda and leaving him facing an intensifying political offensive by his liberal opponents.

Since taking office in 2022 for a single five-year term, Mr Yoon, a former top prosecutor, has been grappling with low approval ratings and a liberal opposition-controlled parliament that has limited his major policy platforms.

In the months ahead of the election, the conservatives supporting Mr Yoon and their liberal rivals exchanged toxic rhetoric and mudslinging.

Prime minister Han Duck-soo and all senior presidential advisers to Mr Yoon, except those in charge of security issues, submitted their resignations on Thursday following the election defeat.

Mr Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) was set to win 108 seats.

The president said he will “humbly uphold” the public sentiments and focus on improving people’s economic situations and on reforming state affairs, according to his office.

People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon said he would also step down to take responsibility for the election defeat.

DP leader Lee Jae-myung, who led a combative campaign against Mr Yoon, said the top priority now was to work for an economic recovery that is palpable for the average consumer.

“The ruling and opposition parties must join forces to overcome the crisis in consumers’ economic livelihood,” he was quoted by Reuters as saying.

The bitterly fought race was seen by some analysts as a referendum on Mr Yoon, with “jugement” being used as a common theme running through comments by opposition victors.

His rivals had campaigned heavily on what they said was Mr Yoon’s mismanagement of the economy and his refusal to acknowledge his wife acted improperly when she accepted a Dior bag as a gift. First lady Kim Keon Hee has not been seen in public since 15 December and was absent when Mr Yoon voted.

Lee Jun-han, a political science professor at Incheon National University, said the poll had all the characteristics of a midterm election, with voters delivering a message that the government’s economic policies were failing.

“With the opposition with nearly 190 seats or more, I think the difficulties with legislation, budget, and state administration will continue in the future,” he said.

Additional reporting by agencies