Wikipedia

2008 South Korean legislative election

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]

2008 South Korean legislative election
← 2004 9 April 2008 2012 →
All 299 seats to the National Assembly
150 seats needed for a majority
Turnout46.08% (Decrease15.55pp; Const. votes)
46.08% (Decrease15.55pp; PR votes)
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Leader Kang Jae-seop Son Hak-gyu Suh Chung-won
Party Grand National United Democratic Pro-Park
Last election 121 seats[a] 161 seats[b] Did not exist
Seats won 153 81 14
Seat change Increase32 Decrease80 New
Constituency vote 8,145,824 4,977,508 637,351
% and swing 43.45% (Increase5.55pp) 28.92% (Decrease20.16pp) 3.70% (New)
Regional vote 7,478,776 4,313,111 2,258,750
% and swing 37.48% (Increase1.71pp) 25.18% (Decrease21.05pp) 13.18% (New)
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Lee Hoi-chang Chon Young-sae
Party Liberty Forward Democratic Labor
Last election Did not exist 10 seats
Seats won 18 5
Seat change New Decrease5
Constituency vote 984,751 583,665
% and swing 5.72% (New) 3.39% (Decrease0.92pp)
Regional vote 1,173,463 973,445
% and swing 6.85% (New) 5.68% (Decrease7.35pp)
Speaker before election

Lim Chae-jung
Uri

Elected Speaker

Kim Hyong-o
Grand National

Electoral system

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See also: Legislative elections in South Korea

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

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See also: List of political parties in South Korea
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

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Main article: List of members of the National Assembly (South Korea), 2008–2012
5
81
3
18
14
153
25
PartyProportionalConstituencyTotal
seats		+/–
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
Grand National Party6,421,72737.48227,478,77643.45131153+32
United Democratic Party4,313,64525.18154,977,50828.926681–80
Pro-Park Alliance2,258,75013.188637,3513.70614New
Liberty Forward Party1,173,4636.854984,7515.721418New
Democratic Labor Party973,4455.683583,6653.3925–5
Creative Korea Party651,9933.81272,8030.4213+3
New Progressive Party504,4662.940229,5001.33000
Christian Party [ko]443,7752.5903,7200.02000
Party for Peaceful Unification and Family180,8571.060334,7151.9400New
Party for Displaced People and National Security93,5540.5501,1300.0100New
Socialist Party35,4960.21000
Party for Culture and Art33,9660.2000New
Party for Citizen17,6560.1000New
United Vocational Party16,6220.1008810.0100New
Neo-Future Party12,1220.0700New
People's Association for Salvation5130.0000New
Unification Party510.0000New
Independents1,907,32611.082525+23
Total17,131,537100.005417,212,690100.002452990
Valid votes17,131,53798.3717,212,69098.83
Invalid/blank votes284,3831.63202,9761.17
Total votes17,415,920100.0017,415,666100.00
Registered voters/turnout37,796,03546.0837,796,03546.08
Source: NEC, CLEA, IPU

By region

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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

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  1. ^ Grand National Party
  2. ^ Uri Party and Democratic Party
  3. ^ Uri Party
  4. ^ Democratic Party

References

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  1. ^ "2008 Electoral Calendar". Maximiliano Herrera's Human Rights Site. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  2. ^ "Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English About Korea". Archived from the original on 2008-04-15. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
  3. ^ Political apathy leads to record-low voter turnout, The Hankyoreh, Retrieved on April 10, 2008
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