The Democratic Party of Korea alone secured a majority of seats in the 22nd general election held on the 10th. The ruling party, the People’s Power, lost three consecutive general elections. The crushing defeat of the ruling party and the landslide victory of the opposition party are interpreted as the result of strong “judgment” against the Yoon Suk Yeol government, which has about three years left in its term.
The Democratic Party dominated most of the Seoul metropolitan area except for Gangnam area and eastern Gyeonggi area. In the Seoul metropolitan area, which determines the outcome of the general elections, the Democratic Party secured 37 out of 48 seats in Seoul, 53 out of 60 in Gyeonggi Province and 12 out of 14 in Incheon. The party thus swept 102 out of 122 seats in the Seoul metropolitan area. Notably, the Democratic Party brought battlegrounds such as Neutungdonggap, Eul, Yeongdeungpogap, Gwangjingap, Gangdonggap, Mapo-eul, and Dongjak-gap.
On top of that, it won all three seats in Honam (8 seats in Gwangju, 10 seats in Jeollanam-do, 10 seats in Jeollabuk-do) and Jeju, and secured 21 out of 28 seats (7 seats in Daejeon, 1 seat in Sejong, 8 seats in Chungnam, and 5 seats in Chungbuk) in the Chungcheong area, which is the central district.
Based on its overwhelming dominance in all provinces except Yeongnam and Gangwon provinces, the Democratic Party secured 161 seats, the sole majority of seats in constituencies. The seats are similar to those of the previous general elections (163 seats in constituencies).
Power of the People in the Seoul metropolitan area only managed 19 seats. In the case of Seoul, it only achieved the level of dominating the traditional stronghold of the three Gangnam districts. Although the city regained Dongjak B and secured Mapo-gap and Dobong-gap, the report card of 11 seats was faded. Incheon (2 seats) was the same as the previous general election, while Gyeonggi Province (6 seats) was down by one seat.
In the Chungcheong provinces, Daejeon and Sejong recorded zero seats following the previous general election, while North Chungcheong Province also recorded three seats, the same as the previous general election. South Chungcheong Province only had three seats, down two from the previous general election.
It is an achievement to protect the Yeongnam region, a traditional strong region, by winning all 25 seats in Daegu and Gyeongbuk, and securing 34 out of 40 seats in Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam.
The People’s Power District has 90 seats, slightly more than the last general election (84 seats), but it is difficult to match the Democratic Party.
In addition, the New Future (Sejong Gap), the Reform New Party (Hwaseong-eul), and the Progressive Party (Northern Ulsan) each secured one location.
The party vote to select proportional representation received about 87 percent of the vote, while the People’s Future, a satellite party of the People’s Power, received the largest portion of the vote with 37.41 percent. The Democratic Party of Korea, led by the Democratic Party, has 26.40 percent, the Cho Kuk Innovation Party 23.83 percent, and the New Reform Party 3.51 percent.
The three terrestrial systems predicted that the proportional representation election would be 19 seats for the future of the people, 13 seats for the Democratic Union, 12 seats for the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, and two seats for the New Reform Party, respectively.
If the Democratic Party (161 seats), the Democratic Union (13 seats), the Grand National Party (12 seats), the New Reform Party (3 seats), the New Future (1 seat), and the Progressive Party (1 seat) are added to the list, the party will have 191 seats of anti-Yoon. In terms of ideological structure, it is a pan-progressive coalition with 188 seats.
It has become inevitable that President Yoon’s driving force for state administration will be hit, and it is expected that he will be asked to change significantly in the future state administration stance.
The younger generation in Korea is not very interested in the general election. Nevertheless, they voted out of disappointment with the current regime, checks, and a sense of duty to vote. People in their 40s and 70s, who have high voting rights, are also disappointed with the current regime. Therefore, this was the result of the general election. In the future, the younger generation leading Korea should pay more attention.
EJ SONG
US ASIA JOURNAL
