(6th LD) Opposition headed to landslide victory in major setback for Yoon

(6th LD) S Korea-elections

SEOUL, April 10 (Yonhap) — The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) was leading the ruling People Power Party (PPP) by a wide margin in Wednesday’s parliamentary elections as vote counting was under way after exit polls projected a landslide victory for the opposition bloc.

With 50 percent of the ballots counted, the DP was leading in 153 districts while the PPP was ahead in 97 districts. Up for grabs are 300 seats in the National Assembly and 46 of them are proportional representation seats.

Results for the proportional representation seats, which are allocated to parties based on the overall number of votes received, are still too early to determine, as only 7 percent of the proportional ballots have been counted so far.

TV exit polls earlier indicated that the DP and its sister Democratic United Party, which solely targets proportional representation seats, would win between 168 and 197 seats, while the PPP and its sister People Future Party were expected to secure 85 to 111 seats.

Combined with votes that other opposition parties received, the exit polls predicted, the broader opposition bloc could secure more than a two-thirds majority that is powerful enough to override presidential vetoes, revise the Constitution and impeach the president with three years remaining in office.

Election officials pour out ballots from a ballot box at a ballot counting station set up at a gym in Ulsan, 299 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on April 10, 2024, following the conclusion of the general elections to choose 300 lawmakers at 6 p.m. (Yonhap)

The new Rebuilding Korea Party, led by the scandal-tainted former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, was projected to win as many as 15 proportional seats, after campaigning with calls for bringing an early end to the Yoon government.

If confirmed, the predictions would deal a severe blow to Yoon, whose administration has struggled with challenges due to low approval ratings and the opposition-controlled National Assembly over the past two years.

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, 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.”

Officials of the ruling People Power Party, including its interim leader Han Dong-hoon (C, front row), look gloomy at the National Assembly in Seoul on April 10, 2024, as TV exit polls of the general elections to choose 300 lawmakers project its devastating defeat to the main opposition Democratic Party. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

The DP celebrated the exit poll outcomes, with leader Lee Jae-myung applauding alongside party members at the National Assembly.

“We will watch people’s choices until the end with a humble heart,” Lee said.

Cho, the former justice minister, hailed the exit poll results as victory for the people.

“The people have won,” Cho said after watching the exit polls. “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 main opposition Democratic Party, including it leader Lee Jae-myung (C, front row), clap at the National Assembly in Seoul on April 10, 2024, as TV exit polls of the general elections to choose 300 lawmakers project its landslide victory. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

Meanwhile, winners have already been determined in some constituencies after almost full ballot counts.

Former National Intelligence Service chief Park Jie-won, running as a candidate for the DP, secured a seat in a district encompassing Haenam, Wando and Jindo on the country’s southern coast.

Park, a former four-term veteran lawmaker, achieved a landslide victory with over 90 percent of the vote against Kwan Bong-keun of the PPP.

“I will continue to fight until the end to address the faults of the President Yoon Suk Yeol administration and achieve regime change,” Park said.

Observers have emphasized the significance of the 48 constituencies in Seoul, regarding them as the primary battlegrounds that will ultimately shape the election outcome, as historical data suggests that results in Seoul often closely reflect the overall election results.

According to exit polls conducted by three broadcasters, in the Gyeyang-B district in Incheon, just west of Seoul, 56.1 percent of voters cast their ballots for DP Chairman Lee, while 43.8 percent voted for PPP rival Won Hee-ryong, who previously served as the country’s land minister.

In Seoul’s Dongjak-B district, DP candidate Ryu Sam-young emerged victorious in a closely contested race against four-term lawmaker Na Kyung-won of the PPP, according to the polls.

Final results are expected early Thursday.

Voter turnout recorded the highest in 32 years.

A total of 14,259 polling stations across the nation closed at 6 p.m., 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.

Cho Kuk, leader of the Rebuilding Korea Party (C, front row), claps with other party members, in surprise, after exit polls showed the party was predicted to win between 11 and 15 proportional seats in the general elections on April 10, 2024. (Yonhap)

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