South Korea was the first country to hold a major election since the COVID-19 crisis began. A record 66% turnout voted, the highest since 1992.
The progressive Democratic Party of Korea won a landslide victory occupying 180 out of 300 seats in parliament. This is the first time this has happened since the late 1980s.
Democratic Party 163
United Future Party 84
Justice Party 1
Independent 5
The conservative United Future Party did get a notable win in Gangnam with Thae Gu-Min, the first time EVER that a North Korean defector has won a government seat in South Korea.Â
Another conservative win was in Busan with ex-mayor Seo Byung-soo, who is known for creating the infamous blacklist of thousands of people in the cultural sector during the Park Geun-hye administration.Â
This will be an interesting time now that President Moon has a definite mandate. His party has won a landslide victory among record voter turnout.Â
This was the first time the mixed representation system was tried. Its intent was to diversify the number of parties in the National Assembly. Instead, the two major parties rigged the system by creating fake satellite astroturf parties, which didn’t win seats.
The first agenda item likely will be budget allocation in coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.
One item I hope will finally get passed will be an anti-discrimination law that religious conservatives have blocked.
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