SEOUL: South Korean (South Korean) President Yoon Suk-yeol is threatened with being a lame duck in the remaining three years of his term after the opposition party’s landslide victory in the parliamentary elections on Wednesday (10 April).
The Democratic Party with a liberal ideology appeared strong by winning 175 of the total 300 seats in the “Ginseng” state parliament.
Yoon’s People’s Power Party (PPP) was only able to get 108 seats.
This result was a major blow for Yoon. The 63-year-old president will be the first in South Korean history whose party fails to control a parliamentary majority during a five-year presidency.
Yoon has had difficulty rolling out his conservative programs since being elected two years ago due to obstacles from a parliament controlled by the Democratic Party and its liberal bloc.
With these results, the Democratic Party recorded a hat trick of three consecutive victories in parliament since the 2016 election, followed by 2020, and finally 2024.
The Homeland Innovation Party, which is only 1 month old, has managed to become the third largest party with 12 seats, adding to the strength of the liberal bloc led by the Democratic Party.
The party founded by former Justice Minister Cho Kuk is campaigning to stop what they call the Yoon government’s tyranny in investigating its political opponents.
REFERENDUM AGAINST YOON
The parliamentary election is a midterm referendum on Yoon’s two-year rule.
PPP’s defeat was not really surprising considering Yoon’s low popularity.
The former Attorney General of South Korea has come under intense scrutiny due to rising prices and living costs as well as a series of scandals involving his wife, First Lady Kim Keon-hee.
Opposition parties criticized Yoon’s government for failing to manage the economy and control the rising inflation rate.
A voter in the capital Seoul, Kim Ji-yun, said Yoon’s government was on the wrong track and she wanted change.
Yoon’s agenda to cut taxes, ease business regulations and strengthen support for families threatens to stall without majority support in parliament.
Kim Hyung-joon, a professor at Pat Chai University, explained that Yoon appeared to have lost the support of the middle class who tend to be politically moderate.
One of the reasons is his communication style, which is considered rigid and tends to make big decisions unilaterally.
