Han Duck-soo — © AP
Following his party’s defeat in the parliamentary elections, South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo has resigned from President Yoon Suk-yeol. The leader of the conservative People’s Power Party PPP and high-ranking employees also want to resign. It is still unclear whether Yoon accepts or refuses the dismissals.
The final results of the parliamentary elections show that the PPP has failed to change the balance of power in the 300-seat parliament in its favor. The People’s Power Party has lost six seats, leaving 108 seats.
Lee Jae-myung’s socially liberal Democratic Party of Korea DPK, on the other hand, has significantly increased its majority in parliament, from 156 to 174 seats. Reconstruction Korea, the party founded a few weeks ago by former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, has taken advantage of the dissatisfaction with the two largest parties and won twelve seats. The victory of the opposition parties turned out to be smaller than the exit polls suggested: together they did not achieve the supermajority of 200 seats.
The elections were seen as an interim balance sheet for the conservative government under President Yoon, who has been in office for two years. Although President Yoon can continue to rule with an opposition majority, that majority could make it difficult to pass certain legislation.