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All 299 seats to the National Assembly 150 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 46.08% (15.55pp; Const. votes) 46.08% (15.55pp; PR votes) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This article is part of a series on |
South Korea portal |
Legislative elections were held in South Korea on April 9, 2008.[1] The conservative Grand National Party won 153 of 299 seats while the main opposition United Democratic Party won 81 seats.[2] This election marked the lowest-ever voter turnout of 46%.[3]
Electoral system
The election was held under parallel voting, with 245 members elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting and the remainder elected via proportional representation. Proportional seats were only available to parties which one three percent of the national valid vote among seat-allocated parties and/or won five or more constituency seats.
Political parties
Parties | Leader | Ideology | Seats | Status | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Last election | Before election | |||||
United Democratic Party | Han Myeong-sook | Liberalism | 152 / 299 [c]
|
141 / 299
|
Government | |
9 / 299 [d]
| ||||||
Grand National Party | Kang Jae-seop | Conservatism | 121 / 299
|
117 / 299
|
Opposition | |
United Liberal Democrats | Kim Nak-seong | 4 / 273
|
Dissolved | |||
Liberty Forward Party | Lee Hoi-chang | Did not exist | 10 / 299
| |||
Democratic Labor Party | Kwon Young-ghil | Progressivism | 10 / 299
|
7 / 299
| ||
Pro-Park Alliance | Suh Chung-won | Conservatism | Did not exist | 3 / 299
| ||
Creative Korea Party | Han Myeon-hee | Centrist reformism | Did not exist | 1 / 299
|
As of April 9, 2008, there were six political parties represented in the 18th National Assembly of South Korea, in addition to independents:
- Grand National Party (한나라당, Hannara-dang), led by Kang Jae-seop. The current major conservative party within the National Assembly. (153 seats won)
- United Democratic Party (통합민주당, Tongham Minju-dang), led by Son Hak-gyu. The current major liberal party within the National Assembly. (81 seats won)
- Liberty Forward Party (자유선진당, Jayu Seonjin-dang), led by Lee Hoi-chang. The Chungcheong Region-strongholder and current second conservative party within the National Assembly against the GNP. (18 seats won)
- Pro-Park Alliance (친박연대, Chin-bak Yeon-dae), led by Seo Cheong-won, although their inspirational leader is former GNP leader Park Geun-hye. A conservative coalition with Park Geun-hye within the National Assembly that broke away from the GNP after a dispute on the GNP's candidate nomination, which happened just before the election. (14 seats won)
- Democratic Labor Party (민주노동당, Minju Nodong-dang), led by Chun Young-se. A minor but the most progressive party within the 18th National Assembly, against both the Grand Nationals and Democrats. (5 seats won)
- Creative Korea Party (창조한국당, Changjo Hanguk-dang), led by Moon Kook-hyun. A minor but pro-environmental liberal party within the National Assembly, against the Grand Nationals. (3 seats won)
- (no seats) The New Progressive Party (진보신당) Jinbo Shin-dang), led by Sim Sang-jeong and Roh Hoe-chan, won 2.94% votes but not enough to gain any seats. The New Progressive Party split from the Democratic Labor Party as a reaction to nationalism after the 2007 presidential elections.
Results
Party | Proportional | Constituency | Total seats | +/– | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | ||||
Grand National Party | 6,421,727 | 37.48 | 22 | 7,478,776 | 43.45 | 131 | 153 | +32 | |
United Democratic Party | 4,313,645 | 25.18 | 15 | 4,977,508 | 28.92 | 66 | 81 | –80 | |
Pro-Park Alliance | 2,258,750 | 13.18 | 8 | 637,351 | 3.70 | 6 | 14 | New | |
Liberty Forward Party | 1,173,463 | 6.85 | 4 | 984,751 | 5.72 | 14 | 18 | New | |
Democratic Labor Party | 973,445 | 5.68 | 3 | 583,665 | 3.39 | 2 | 5 | –5 | |
Creative Korea Party | 651,993 | 3.81 | 2 | 72,803 | 0.42 | 1 | 3 | +3 | |
New Progressive Party | 504,466 | 2.94 | 0 | 229,500 | 1.33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Christian Party | 443,775 | 2.59 | 0 | 3,720 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Party for Peaceful Unification and Family | 180,857 | 1.06 | 0 | 334,715 | 1.94 | 0 | 0 | New | |
Party for Displaced People and National Security | 93,554 | 0.55 | 0 | 1,130 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | New | |
Socialist Party | 35,496 | 0.21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Party for Culture and Art | 33,966 | 0.20 | 0 | 0 | New | ||||
Party for Citizen | 17,656 | 0.10 | 0 | 0 | New | ||||
United Vocational Party | 16,622 | 0.10 | 0 | 881 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | New | |
Neo-Future Party | 12,122 | 0.07 | 0 | 0 | New | ||||
People's Association for Salvation | 513 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | New | ||||
Unification Party | 51 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | New | ||||
Independents | 1,907,326 | 11.08 | 25 | 25 | +23 | ||||
Total | 17,131,537 | 100.00 | 54 | 17,212,690 | 100.00 | 245 | 299 | 0 | |
Valid votes | 17,131,537 | 98.37 | 17,212,690 | 98.83 | |||||
Invalid/blank votes | 284,383 | 1.63 | 202,976 | 1.17 | |||||
Total votes | 17,415,920 | 100.00 | 17,415,666 | 100.00 | |||||
Registered voters/turnout | 37,796,035 | 46.08 | 37,796,035 | 46.08 | |||||
Source: NEC, CLEA, IPU |
By region
Region | Seats | Electorate | Turnout | % | Party | Constituency | Proportional | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | |||||||
Seoul | 48 | 8,078,345 | 3,701,619 | 45.8 | Grand National Party | 1,834,534 | 51.2 | 40 | 1,473,477 | ||
United Democratic Party | 1,330,194 | 37.1 | 7 | 1,037,469 | |||||||
Liberty Forward Party | 83,339 | 2.3 | 0 | 175,731 | |||||||
Democratic Labor Party | 72,478 | 2.0 | 0 | 138,751 | |||||||
Pro-Park Alliance | 68,861 | 1.9 | 0 | 382,814 | |||||||
Creative Korea Party | 55,392 | 1.6 | 1 | 169,787 | |||||||
Others | 138,563 | 3.9 | 0 | 285,353 | |||||||
Busan | 18 | 2,841,445 | 1,218,303 | 42.9 | Grand National Party | 568,411 | 47.3 | 11 | 521,286 | ||
United Democratic Party | 141,386 | 11.8 | 1 | 152,494 | |||||||
Pro-Park Alliance | 110,940 | 9.2 | 0 | 270,393 | |||||||
Democratic Labor Party | 51,075 | 4.3 | 0 | 63,243 | |||||||
Liberty Forward Party | 33,102 | 2.8 | 0 | 62,238 | |||||||
Creative Korea Party | 45,136 | ||||||||||
Others | 296,269 | 24.7 | 6 | 82,984 | |||||||
Incheon | 12 | 2,018,699 | 858,234 | 42.5 | Grand National Party | 407,846 | 48.0 | 9 | 335,252 | ||
United Democratic Party | 268,622 | 31.6 | 2 | 207,480 | |||||||
Liberty Forward Party | 40,791 | 4.8 | 0 | 51,609 | |||||||
Democratic Labor Party | 29,316 | 3.4 | 0 | 48,937 | |||||||
Creative Korea Party | 3,121 | 0.4 | 0 | 37,007 | |||||||
Pro-Park Alliance | 91,792 | ||||||||||
Others | 100,089 | 11.8 | 1 | 72,731 | |||||||
Daegu | 12 | 1,899,679 | 857,041 | 45.1 | Grand National Party | 513,667 | 61.1 | 8 | 393,558 | ||
Pro-Park Alliance | 132,443 | 15.7 | 3 | 276,790 | |||||||
Democratic Labor Party | 15,097 | 1.8 | 0 | 27,366 | |||||||
Liberty Forward Party | 22,893 | 2.7 | 0 | 33,437 | |||||||
United Democratic Party | 6,466 | 0.8 | 0 | 41,649 | |||||||
Creative Korea Party | 24,621 | ||||||||||
Others | 150,784 | 17.9 | 1 | 47,769 | |||||||
Gwangju | 8 | 1,034,393 | 438,379 | 42.4 | United Democratic Party | 281,182 | 64.7 | 7 | 304,789 | ||
Democratic Labor Party | 33,602 | 7.7 | 0 | 40,550 | |||||||
Grand National Party | 26,553 | 6.1 | 0 | 25,551 | |||||||
Liberty Forward Party | 621 | 0.1 | 0 | 4,048 | |||||||
Creative Korea Party | 16,917 | ||||||||||
Pro-Park Alliance | 5,595 | ||||||||||
Others | 92,599 | 21.3 | 1 | 35,500 | |||||||
Daejeon | 6 | 1,101,299 | 499,193 | 45.3 | Liberty Forward Party | 198,355 | 40.0 | 5 | 169,358 | ||
Grand National Party | 131,830 | 26.6 | 0 | 122,220 | |||||||
United Democratic Party | 118,756 | 24.0 | 1 | 91,777 | |||||||
Pro-Park Alliance | 21,896 | 4.4 | 0 | 42,670 | |||||||
Democratic Labor Party | 4,207 | 0.8 | 0 | 19,109 | |||||||
Creative Korea Party | 2,149 | 0.4 | 0 | 18,051 | |||||||
Others | 18,532 | 3.7 | 0 | 29,884 | |||||||
Ulsan | 6 | 812,693 | 371,834 | 45.8 | Grand National Party | 196,218 | 53.4 | 5 | 157,453 | ||
Democratic Labor Party | 67,185 | 18.3 | 0 | 52,308 | |||||||
Pro-Park Alliance | 20,347 | 5.5 | 0 | 68,728 | |||||||
United Democratic Party | 8,309 | 2.3 | 0 | 34,295 | |||||||
Creative Korea Party | 12,799 | ||||||||||
Liberty Forward Party | 12,382 | ||||||||||
Others | 75,209 | 20.5 | 1 | 29,348 | |||||||
Gyeonggi | 51 | 8,290,855 | 3,626,666 | 43.7 | Grand National Party | 1,734,696 | 48.3 | 32 | 1,465,283 | ||
United Democratic Party | 1,331,142 | 37.0 | 17 | 207,480 | |||||||
Pro-Park Alliance | 136,810 | 3.8 | 1 | 51,609 | |||||||
Democratic Labor Party | 100,374 | 2.8 | 0 | 48,937 | |||||||
Liberty Forward Party | 86,620 | 2.4 | 0 | 169,682 | |||||||
Creative Korea Party | 4,068 | 0.1 | 0 | 157,101 | |||||||
Others | 201,036 | 5.6 | 1 | 1,480,584 | |||||||
Gangwon | 8 | 1,166,766 | 600,692 | 51.5 | Grand National Party | 266,217 | 44.8 | 3 | 266,768 | ||
United Democratic Party | 146,032 | 24.6 | 2 | 109,108 | |||||||
Liberty Forward Party | 50,013 | 8.4 | 0 | 37,168 | |||||||
Democratic Labor Party | 17,075 | 2.9 | 0 | 34,841 | |||||||
Creative Korea Party | 1,647 | 0.3 | 0 | 21,455 | |||||||
Pro-Park Alliance | 72,078 | ||||||||||
Others | 113,022 | 19.0 | 3 | 44,589 | |||||||
North Chungcheong | 8 | 1,151,531 | 567,437 | 49.3 | Grand National Party | 222,457 | 39.5 | 1 | 189,681 | ||
United Democratic Party | 198,905 | 35.3 | 6 | 133,199 | |||||||
Liberty Forward Party | 79,401 | 14.1 | 1 | 76,521 | |||||||
Pro-Park Alliance | 20,275 | 3.6 | 0 | 68,800 | |||||||
Democratic Labor Party | 12,849 | 2.3 | 0 | 31,717 | |||||||
Creative Korea Party | 1,770 | 0.3 | 0 | 18,717 | |||||||
Others | 27,195 | 4.8 | 0 | 38,940 | |||||||
South Chungcheong | 10 | 1,542,618 | 744,018 | 48.2 | Liberty Forward Party | 341,041 | 46.4 | 8 | 273,564 | ||
Grand National Party | 221,115 | 30.1 | 0 | 196,418 | |||||||
United Democratic Party | 105,250 | 14.3 | 1 | 98,045 | |||||||
Pro-Park Alliance | 11,209 | 1.5 | 0 | 52,283 | |||||||
Democratic Labor Party | 7,855 | 1.1 | 0 | 34,052 | |||||||
Creative Korea Party | 2,040 | 0.3 | 0 | 18,392 | |||||||
Others | 46,971 | 6.4 | 1 | 51,307 | |||||||
North Jeolla | 11 | 1,424,401 | 676,727 | 47.5 | United Democratic Party | 363,125 | 54.7 | 9 | 424,663 | ||
Grand National Party | 47,528 | 7.2 | 0 | 61,091 | |||||||
Democratic Labor Party | 8,344 | 1.3 | 0 | 49,047 | |||||||
Creative Korea Party | 19,335 | ||||||||||
Pro-Park Alliance | 15,493 | ||||||||||
Liberty Forward Party | 10,847 | ||||||||||
Others | 244,936 | 36.9 | 2 | 79,922 | |||||||
South Jeolla | 12 | 1,496,888 | 748,744 | 50.0 | United Democratic Party | 454,274 | 61.8 | 9 | 486,790 | ||
Grand National Party | 44,801 | 6.1 | 0 | 46,256 | |||||||
Democratic Labor Party | 35,078 | 4.8 | 0 | 73,414 | |||||||
Liberty Forward Party | 602 | 0.1 | 0 | 7,721 | |||||||
Creative Korea Party | 16,805 | ||||||||||
Pro-Park Alliance | 12,884 | ||||||||||
Others | 200,396 | 27.3 | 3 | 83,879 | |||||||
North Gyeongsang | 15 | 2,097,907 | 1,113,646 | 53.1 | Grand National Party | 594,105 | 54.3 | 9 | 579,285 | ||
Pro-Park Alliance | 66,577 | 6.1 | 1 | 255,422 | |||||||
United Democratic Party | 33,928 | 3.1 | 0 | 60,857 | |||||||
Liberty Forward Party | 22,029 | 2.0 | 0 | 31,385 | |||||||
Democratic Labor Party | 11,735 | 1.1 | 0 | 44,329 | |||||||
Creative Korea Party | 25,521 | ||||||||||
Others | 365,552 | 33.4 | 5 | 86,961 | |||||||
South Gyeongsang | 17 | 2,424,602 | 1,171,689 | 48.3 | Grand National Party | 593,399 | 51.4 | 13 | 517,675 | ||
Democratic Labor Party | 105,168 | 9.1 | 2 | 122,089 | |||||||
United Democratic Party | 98,205 | 8.5 | 1 | 120,889 | |||||||
Liberty Forward Party | 14,143 | 1.2 | 0 | 48,700 | |||||||
Creative Korea Party | 4,765 | 0.4 | 0 | 39,335 | |||||||
Pro-Park Alliance | 206,373 | ||||||||||
Others | 339,467 | 29.4 | 1 | 144,318 | |||||||
Jeju | 3 | 413,904 | 221,444 | 53.5 | United Democratic Party | 91,732 | 41.8 | 3 | 65,720 | ||
Grand National Party | 75,399 | 34.4 | 0 | 70,473 | |||||||
Democratic Labor Party | 12,227 | 5.6 | 0 | 21,718 | |||||||
Liberty Forward Party | 7,399 | 3.4 | 0 | 9,072 | |||||||
Creative Korea Party | 11,014 | ||||||||||
Pro-Park Alliance | 3,080 | 1.4 | 0 | 26,741 | |||||||
Others | 29,668 | 13.5 | 0 | 12,708 | |||||||
Source: Psephos |
Notes
References
- ^ "2008 Electoral Calendar". Maximiliano Herrera's Human Rights Site. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
- ^ "Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English About Korea". Archived from the original on 2008-04-15. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- ^ Political apathy leads to record-low voter turnout, The Hankyoreh, Retrieved on April 10, 2008