SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's prime minister and senior presidential officials offered to resign en masse Thursday after the ruling party suffered a landslide defeat in parliamentary elections, dealing a major blow to conservative President Yun Seok-Yeol.
Wednesday's election results mean the liberal opposition will extend control of parliament until Mr. Yun finishes his five-year single term in 2027. That would likely set back Mr. Yoon's domestic policies and weaken his grip on the ruling party as he faces opposition forces. Experts say the political offensive will intensify during the remaining three years of his term.
According to Yun's office, all of the presidential chief of staff except Prime Minister Han Do-soo and Yun's national security adviser have submitted their resignations. It was not immediately clear whether Yoon had accepted his resignation.
South Korea's executive power is largely concentrated in the hands of the president, but if the president becomes incapacitated, the prime minister becomes the number two leader of the country.
Lee Kwang-seop, Yun's chief of staff, said in a teleconference that Yun will “humbly protect” the public sentiment reflected in the election results and focus on improving the people's economic situation and reforming national government.
At a separate press conference, Han Dong-hoon, leader of the ruling People's Power Party, also said he would resign to take responsibility for the election defeat.
“I apologize to the people on behalf of a party that did not do enough to win the people's choice,” he said.
Most of the votes have been counted, and the main opposition Democratic Party and its satellite parties appear to have won a total of 175 seats in the 300-member Diet. Another small liberal opposition party was expected to win 12 seats under the proportional representation system, according to a tally by South Korean media.
Yun's ruling People's Power Party and its satellite parties were expected to win 108 seats.
Final official results are expected to be announced later Thursday.
Regardless of the outcome, Yun will likely remain in power and major foreign policy will remain unchanged. But Wednesday's election was widely seen as an interim vote of confidence for Yun, a former top prosecutor who takes office in 2022.
Mr. Yun has strongly promoted strengthening cooperation between the United States and Japan as a way to deal with tough challenges that combine security and economic issues. But he is plagued by low domestic approval ratings and a parliament dominated by liberal opposition parties that restricts his major policy platforms from requiring parliamentary approval.
Hong Seong-geul, a public administration expert at Kookmin University in Seoul, said the opposition is likely to actively exercise legislative power, making it more difficult for Yoon to implement pro-business policies and tax reform. I expect it to be deaf.
“When it comes to policy, something as important as tax reform requires legislation,'' Hong said. “I think there is a high possibility that the opposition parties will put a brake on these policies of Mr. Yoon.''
Critics of Mr. Yoon say that he has not been able to solve the problems of daily life such as soaring prices, that he has refused to immediately dismiss some of the executives involved in the scandal, and that he has worked with opposition leaders to coordinate policy. They blame the lack of effort to communicate.
Earlier this year, despite strong protests from current doctors, Yoon strongly pushed for a significant increase in the number of medical students, and his approval ratings temporarily rose. But the doctors' strike ultimately forced Yun to face growing calls for a compromise to be found as patients and others experienced delays in surgeries and other inconveniences.
Opposing political parties' campaigning ahead of Wednesday's general election has deepened the already deep divide between South Korea's conservative and liberal factions, with an exchange of toxic rhetoric and fistfights.
Democratic Party of Japan leader Lee Jae-myung lost to Yoon in the 2022 presidential election, which was the closest contest in the country. During the 2022 election campaign, Mr. Yun and Mr. Lee and their supporters spent months demonizing each other.
Lee is considering running for president again. The conservatives' main rival is Mr. Han, who also served as Mr. Yoon's justice minister. Lee faces a series of corruption investigations, which he claims are politically motivated and promoted by the Yun government.
“The result of the parliamentary election is not a victory for the Democratic Party, but a great victory for the people,” Lee said on Thursday. “Well, the election is over. The ruling and opposition parties need to unite their collective efforts to resolve economic and people's livelihood issues,'' he said.
The next parliament will convene on May 30th and will serve a four-year term. Of the 300 seats, 254 were elected by direct vote in local elections, and the remaining 46 seats were elected by each party based on their percentage of votes. According to the National Election Commission, the final turnout of South Korea's 44 million voters was tentatively estimated at 67%, the highest for a parliamentary election since 1992.
