The President of South Korea, Yoon Suk-Leol and his People’s Power Party (PPP) received a sharp rebuke from the country’s electorate in parliamentary elections held this week.
The PPP won 108 of the 300 seats on offer, a slight decline from what it had managed in the previous election.
An opposition electoral pact, called the Democratic Alliance and made up of the Democratic Party, Progressive Party, and New Progressive Alliance, won 176 seats.
Only three other parties won seats – the Rebuilding Korea Party, the New Reform Party, and the New Future Party.
Yoon was first elected president in 2022, but he has found it difficult to pass legislation, with the country’s parliament being controlled by the opposition. With this increase in seats controlled by the opposition, his task will be ever more difficult.
Yoon has also been under pressure in recent times. The country faced issues such as a cost-of-living crisis and a doctors’ strike. In addition, Yoon has failed to offer up a solution to an existential threat to South Korea, which is the country’s low fertility and rapidly aging population. Without intervention, the South Korean population is likely to halve by the end of the century.
Yoon’s party has also faced accusations around corruption, which have affected its reputation.
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