SEOUL
South Korea’s ruling party was celebrating a landslide victory over the country’s main opposition Thursday, a day after by-elections were held to decide a record 15 parliamentary vacancies.
The ruling Saenuri Party’s victory in 11 of those races was seen as an emphatic endorsement of the establishment and of President Park Geun-hye’s government – which has come under intense criticism for its failure to prevent and handle April’s Sewol ferry disaster, which left more than 300 people dead or missing.
President Park had in May offered a tearful public apology and vowed a series of widespread reforms to both safeguard and improve society – but her approval rating tumbled to a low of 40 percent this month, according to polling agency Gallup Korea.
Despite Park’s ties to the ruling party, which she had led before her presidency, the public appeared to ignore the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy’s (NPAD) calls to bring judgment upon her administration by restoring a Saenuri majority in the National Assembly.
“We promise to put all of our efforts into making the public’s lives more comfortable through the success of the Park Geun-hye government’s drive to revitalize the livelihoods of the public,” ruling party chief Kim Moo-sung said at the Saenuri headquarters in Seoul.
The nature of the opposition NPAD’s defeat left the party reeling – both joint leaders of the NPAD announced their resignations in the wake of the by-elections.
Particularly painful for them was the ruling party’s first parliamentary victory in the opposition stronghold of South Jeolla Province since 1988 – while all but one of the so-called neutral constituencies in and around Seoul was won by Saenuri candidates.
A spokesperson for the NPAD told reporters the opposition accepts the will of the public “heavily and humbly.”
The party’s next challenge, aside from choosing a new leader, will be engaging those same members of the public after a below-average voter turnout of just 32.9 percent, according to the National Election Commission.
For the ruling Saenuri camp and the government, the future looks to be more certain for Park’s post-Sewol reforms after a turbulent few months at the South Korean presidential office.
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