Yesterday brought the much anticipated Korean parliamentary elections to a close, with the newly-named conservative Saenuri Party (‘New Frontier’) taking just over half of the 300 seats up for grab. The turnout for this year was said to be one of the highest, with 54.3% of Koreans turning out to vote, compared to 46.1% four years ago.
Many commentators see the Saenuri victory as an early sign of Park Geun-hye’s taking residence in the Blue House next fall. Internet forums have been buzzing since yesterday, attracting comments in the thousands.
Many netizens blamed foul-mouthed Kim Yong-min (covered by koreaBANG for his profanity against the elderly and Christians among others) for the defeat of the very party he was representing. 2012 has proven to be one of the most active politically speaking, especially among the youths. With only 8 months to go before the Korean Presidential elections, this won’t be a quiet year for Korean politics, or for koreaBANG either.
Results for districts of Seoul
Red – Saenuri Party
Yellow – Democratic United Party
Purple – Unified Progressive Party
From Daum:
Saenuri Party takes the majority in resounding victory
What was tipped to be a tight race between the ruling party and the opposition, the ruling Saenuri Party (New Frontier Party) took the resounding majority in the April 11 General Election.
Despite the favourable results in the Seoul Metropolitan Area the opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) failed to make inroad into the ruling Saenuri strongholds, resulting in bitter defeat.
Saenuri secured 152 seats in total with 127 seats voted directly in and 25 proportional seats. DUP took 106 seats from constituencies, with 21 proportional seats, totalling 127 seats in parliament.
Unified Progressive Party (UPP) took 7 constituencies and 6 proportional seats. Liberty Forward Party (LFP) secured 3 constituencies with 2 proportional seats. 3 independent candidates also were voted in.
The voter turnout was heavily speculated. Many predicted the turnout to reach 60% as the rainy weather cleared by the early afternoon.
But the turnout slowed as the day wound down, reaching 54.3% at the end, slightly lower than the 5th local election in 2010, 54.5%.
The confusion compounded, as the exit-poll taken by the three broadcasters presented mixed results with wafer-thin margin tipping either way, leaving Saenuri and DUP in no clear position.
But once the votes were counted, Saenuri was shown to be in clear command.
The election result is explained by the lower-than-expected turnout, coupled with the extreme regional block-voting pattern.
Saenuri won all but 4 seats in Busan-Kyungnam (30), and completely swept Daegu-Kyungpook (27), Ulsan (6) and Gangwon province (9).
UPP was able to gain some presence in Gwangju and Jeonnam province, Jeonbuk province but its impact was still marginal.
Saenuri won overwhelming victory in the eastern provinces, confining the opposition presence primarily within the metropolitan area (112 seats in Seoul by DUP).
30 constituencies in the Seoul Metropolitan Area went to DUP, leaving 16 seats to Saenuri. In Kyunggi province, DUP won 29 seats with Saenuri taking 21 seats. In Incheon Saenuri and DUP took 6 seats each.
Comments from Daum:
shine:
Gangwon and Chungcheong, they blow my mind~
윈드:
WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH~~~ The biggest credit for Saenuri should go to Naggomsu and the profanity man Kim Yong-min,,, He must have cost them at least 20 seats by himself,,, So proud,,,~~!!!,,,,,, Kim Yong-min~~~ !!!! Hail Saenuri~~~~!!!!!!! Hail Park Geun-hye ~~~~~~~~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
blackstorm:
See this? This is the popular mandate. Internet is for those left-wing commie losers, that’s all they are.
후회없이:
The lefties were being so annoying on the net that the swing voters went the other way, don’t you believe me. Look at these comments, bitch all you want, this will happen again ke ke ke ke ke
togoong:
All those babies crying for college tuition reduction by half, did they all go picnicking?
멋들어지게:
I’m in my 30s and I hate Saenuri and Democrats equally and consider myself neutral. But all those in 20s-40s on the web were being so annoying about how DUP is the truth that I voted Saenuri. You guys went really over the top with these comments.
푸커:
DUP was being so stupid. Try to approach this with the They only have the oppositional mentality and that’s why they lose. I say this out of love as a patriot and DUP supporter.
초코네집:
The cattle farmers from Kyungsang, don’t come out protesting with your cattle on the highway.
자유와행복:
Don’t be so shocked, this is the reality… This is our national standard. I am so appalled and saddened by this. Lee Myung-bak can now happily retire and enjoy his remaining days. We have no right to criticize the politicians. We have nothing to complain about. I will now only think about my own interest. I am so depressed in this early morning.
개명박:
Thanks to Seoul DUP was able to survive… But What the hell, Chungcheong and Gangwon? I did not expect anything out of Gyeongsan province, they are absolutely hopeless. It is not that president is not communicating with the citizens, but we are not communicating with ourselves.
fgkshsr4k8:
There are tons of people who think not supporting the lefties as tantamount to being brainless trash citizen but your homeland North Korea must be full of heroes. I am at my wit’s end with you guys. Bet your brains are dyed in red.
NO NAME:
Goes to show that the silent conservative is more powerful than the foul-mouthing progressive!!!
U2:
So close If the turnout reached 70%, Saenuri would have taken 160 seats… 20s-30s turnout was supposed to be high ke ke ke DUP and UPP idiots and zombies, better not to assume that people in 20s and 30s will support democrats and progressives.
DongUk_Seo:
I’m moving abroad. Bye Korea!
Tarantula:
Next four years will be tough again,,, Big corporations will have a blast,, apartment price will be jacked up,, School tuitions and private school reform are over before it even started,,, How much more do we need to suffer before we come to our senses,, tsk tsk
