Why do these elections matter?
South Koreans go to the polls on April 10 to elect a new 300-member National Assembly. The parliamentary election is widely seen as a midterm referendum on President Yoon Suk Yeol. They will also serve as a vote of confidence in the opposition Democratic Party, which has controlled the majority in the Assembly for the past four years.
Mr. Yun narrowly won the presidential election in March 2022, and three months later, his People’s Party won most mayoral and provincial races in major cities. But two major drawbacks have plagued his presidency: his party’s lack of control in the unicameral Assembly and Mr. Yun’s low approval ratings.
An election victory for his party could boost Mr Yoon’s four major reform agendas of the country’s health, education, labor and national pension systems, as well as his promise to abolish its gender equality ministry country. Mr. Yoon will also see it as lending political legitimacy to his policy of aligning South Korea more closely with the United States.
But if the opposition scores a decisive victory, it will further weaken Mr. Yun’s leadership and may turn him into an early lame duck, political analysts say.
What are the big election issues?
South Korea faces a host of issues with no easy solution: a slowing economy, out-of-control housing prices, a rapidly aging population, a widening income gap, a gender gap especially among its younger generation, and a growing nuclear and missile threat from North Korea.
But South Korea’s worsening political polarization means that almost every sensitive issue is viewed along partisan lines. And political analysts say it also means these elections are not being run on a sustained political debate, but more to incite and play on voters’ fears and resentments about the other side.
Polls in recent weeks have shown a majority of South Koreans disapprove of Mr. Yoon’s performance, which has emerged as a key election issue. He was especially unpopular with voters aged 50 and under. But the same surveys also found respondents distrust the opposition Democratic Party, whose leader Lee Jae-myung is on trial for bribery and other criminal charges.
Mr. Yun’s party is appealing to conservative voters, arguing that his election victory will boost his campaign to oust what he calls corrupt “anti-state” progressives from the center of South Korean politics.
The main slogan of the liberal opposition is to “punish” the Yun government for everything from raising consumer prices to its veto of a parliamentary bill that would have launched an independent investigation into corruption allegations against first lady Kim Geun-hye .
How do they choose the Assembly?
Of the 300 parliamentary seats that have been proposed, 254 are elected by voting in an equal number of constituencies across the country. These races will largely be a contest between the two main parties: Mr. Yun’s People’s Power Party and the opposition Democratic Party. The remaining 46 seats, which are not linked to any constituencies, are distributed among the smaller political parties, roughly according to the number of votes they win in parallel national elections.
Political parties didn’t finish nominating their candidates until less than a month before Election Day, giving voters little time to study them and the issues they support. But in South Korea, parliamentary elections are often decided more by the popularity of political parties and the sitting president than by individual candidates.
When will we know the result?
Voting begins at 6am. local time and, unless there is an extremely tight race, it should be clear early the next day which party won.
Where can I learn more?
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