SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol faces a crucial referendum in parliamentary elections on Wednesday that could determine whether he will become a figurehead or pursue key policies for his remaining three years in office. Will enjoy the mandate to increase.
In the months before the election, conservatives supporting Yoon and his liberal rivals exchanged venomous rhetoric and mudslinging, a sign of deepening domestic divisions. Regardless of the outcome, Yoon will remain in power, but the failure of his ruling People's Power Party to restore a parliamentary majority could damage Yoon's push for his agenda and further intensify the conservative-liberal fight.
Since taking office for a five-year term in 2022, Yoon, a former prosecutor, has grappled with low approval ratings and a free opposition-controlled parliament that has limited his key policy platforms. Pre-election polls indicate That liberal opposition parties will retain dominant positions in the single-chamber, 300-member National Assembly.But many observers say it is still too early to decide who will win the election because there is a tight contest among many voters and many moderate voters will make last-minute choices.
"What will matter for the People's Power Party is whether it can become the largest party or the second-largest party," said Choi Jin, director of the Seoul-based Institute of Presidential Leadership. It is difficult to move even a step forward in state affairs.”
Of the 300 seats, 254 are to be elected through direct votes in the local district and the other 46 are to be allocated by the proportion of votes cast to the parties. Election observers say that candidates are in a close contest in about 50 to 55 local districts..Voting centers opened at 6 am and will close at 6 pm. There are 4 million eligible voters in South Korea, and about 31% of them, or about 14 million people, have already voted during two-day early voting last week. According to the National Election Commission, this was the highest turnout of its kind in the history of South Korean parliamentary elections.
South Korea's toxic conservative-liberal divide deepened during the 2022 presidential election, during which Yoon and his main liberal rival Lee Jae-myung spent months vilifying each other. Yun ultimately defeated Lee by the narrowest of margins in the country's presidential race.Lee, now chairman of the opposition Democratic Party, is a harsh critic of Yun's major policies and is eyeing another presidential bid. He is facing multiple corruption investigations, which he argues were politically motivated by the Yoon government. An investigation into South Korea's divisive politics came after a man stabbed Lee in the neck in January. There was a brief introspection, according to the police, who had tried to kill Lee to prevent him from becoming president. But as the parliamentary elections approached, rival parties started hurling vulgar statements and vulgar insults at each other.
Ruling party leader Han Dong-hoon called Lee a "criminal" and dismissed his comments as "trash".Li's party spokesperson described Han's mouth as a "trace bin". Han accused Lee of making sexist remarks against a female candidate from the ruling party.
During one of his final campaign events on Tuesday, Han argued that giving too many seats to Lee's Democratic Party would plunge South Korea into political turmoil. "Tomorrow's 12 hours will determine whether the Republic of Korea will plunge into shocking chaos and despair or will recover from the crisis," Han said, using South Korea's official name. Speaking before his corruption trial in a Seoul court , Lee urged voters to punish the Yun government, which he said has used prosecutors to suppress opponents.Lee said, "I ask you sincerely to give your verdict on a government that betrays the people and turns against them."
Chung Jin-young, former dean of the Graduate School of Pan-Pacific International Studies at Kyung Hee University, predicted that the opposition parties could win a combined 150–180 seats.
"This will lead to a political stalemate for the Republic of Korea for the next three years, as both the ruling and opposition parties cannot move forward unilaterally and will likely not compromise with each other," Chung said. Initially, Yoon saw rising approval ratings due to his strong push to drastically increase the number of medical students despite strong opposition from existing doctors. Yoon has said his goal is to produce more doctors for the country's rapidly aging population, but thousands of young doctors have gone on strike, saying schools cannot handle the sudden increase in students.Ultimately Yoon faced increasing demands for compromise due to a walkout by doctors, causing delays in surgeries and other inconveniences to patients and others. Yun's ruling party is also grappling with rising prices of agricultural products and other goods and criticism of Yun's personnel management style."President Yoon has said that stabilizing livelihoods and livelihood prices will be prioritized, but they have not been stabilized, so I think this will be a big negative for the Yoon government during the election," said Kim, 32. Dey said the Sio resident said.
In the months before the election, conservatives supporting Yoon and his liberal rivals exchanged venomous rhetoric and mudslinging, a sign of deepening domestic divisions. Regardless of the outcome, Yoon will remain in power, but the failure of his ruling People's Power Party to restore a parliamentary majority could damage Yoon's push for his agenda and further intensify the conservative-liberal fight.
Since taking office for a five-year term in 2022, Yoon, a former prosecutor, has grappled with low approval ratings and a free opposition-controlled parliament that has limited his key policy platforms. Pre-election polls indicate That liberal opposition parties will retain dominant positions in the single-chamber, 300-member National Assembly.But many observers say it is still too early to decide who will win the election because there is a tight contest among many voters and many moderate voters will make last-minute choices.
"What will matter for the People's Power Party is whether it can become the largest party or the second-largest party," said Choi Jin, director of the Seoul-based Institute of Presidential Leadership. It is difficult to move even a step forward in state affairs.”
Of the 300 seats, 254 are to be elected through direct votes in the local district and the other 46 are to be allocated by the proportion of votes cast to the parties. Election observers say that candidates are in a close contest in about 50 to 55 local districts..Voting centers opened at 6 am and will close at 6 pm. There are 4 million eligible voters in South Korea, and about 31% of them, or about 14 million people, have already voted during two-day early voting last week. According to the National Election Commission, this was the highest turnout of its kind in the history of South Korean parliamentary elections.
South Korea's toxic conservative-liberal divide deepened during the 2022 presidential election, during which Yoon and his main liberal rival Lee Jae-myung spent months vilifying each other. Yun ultimately defeated Lee by the narrowest of margins in the country's presidential race.Lee, now chairman of the opposition Democratic Party, is a harsh critic of Yun's major policies and is eyeing another presidential bid. He is facing multiple corruption investigations, which he argues were politically motivated by the Yoon government. An investigation into South Korea's divisive politics came after a man stabbed Lee in the neck in January. There was a brief introspection, according to the police, who had tried to kill Lee to prevent him from becoming president. But as the parliamentary elections approached, rival parties started hurling vulgar statements and vulgar insults at each other.
Ruling party leader Han Dong-hoon called Lee a "criminal" and dismissed his comments as "trash".Li's party spokesperson described Han's mouth as a "trace bin". Han accused Lee of making sexist remarks against a female candidate from the ruling party.
During one of his final campaign events on Tuesday, Han argued that giving too many seats to Lee's Democratic Party would plunge South Korea into political turmoil. "Tomorrow's 12 hours will determine whether the Republic of Korea will plunge into shocking chaos and despair or will recover from the crisis," Han said, using South Korea's official name. Speaking before his corruption trial in a Seoul court , Lee urged voters to punish the Yun government, which he said has used prosecutors to suppress opponents.Lee said, "I ask you sincerely to give your verdict on a government that betrays the people and turns against them."
Chung Jin-young, former dean of the Graduate School of Pan-Pacific International Studies at Kyung Hee University, predicted that the opposition parties could win a combined 150–180 seats.
"This will lead to a political stalemate for the Republic of Korea for the next three years, as both the ruling and opposition parties cannot move forward unilaterally and will likely not compromise with each other," Chung said. Initially, Yoon saw rising approval ratings due to his strong push to drastically increase the number of medical students despite strong opposition from existing doctors. Yoon has said his goal is to produce more doctors for the country's rapidly aging population, but thousands of young doctors have gone on strike, saying schools cannot handle the sudden increase in students.Ultimately Yoon faced increasing demands for compromise due to a walkout by doctors, causing delays in surgeries and other inconveniences to patients and others. Yun's ruling party is also grappling with rising prices of agricultural products and other goods and criticism of Yun's personnel management style."President Yoon has said that stabilizing livelihoods and livelihood prices will be prioritized, but they have not been stabilized, so I think this will be a big negative for the Yoon government during the election," said Kim, 32. Dey said the Sio resident said.
