SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s prime minister and senior presidential officials offered to resign Thursday after their ruling party suffered a crushing…
South Korea’s prime minister and senior presidential officials offered to resign Thursday after their ruling party suffered a crushing defeat in parliamentary elections in a blow to conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The results of Wednesday’s elections mean the liberal opposition forces will prolong their control of parliament until after Yoon completes his single five-year term in 2027. That will likely set back Yoon’s domestic agenda and weaken his grip on the ruling party as he faces the opposition’s intensifying political offensive during his remaining three years in office, experts say.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and all senior presidential advisers to Yoon, except those in charge of security issues, expressed their intentions to resign, according to Yoon’s office. It didn’t immediately say whether Yoon accepted their resignations.
Executive power in South Korea is heavily concentrated in the president, but the prime minister is the No. 2 official and leads the country if the president becomes incapacitated.
Yoon said he will “humbly uphold” the public sentiments reflected in the election outcome and focus on improving people’s economic situations and reforming state affairs, said presidential chief of staff Lee Kwan-seop, in a televised briefing. Lee said he also offered to quit.
In a separate news conference, ruling People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon said he would step down as well to take responsibility for the election defeat.
“I apologize to the people on behalf of our party, which wasn’t good enough to win the people’s choices,” he said.
With all the votes counted, the main opposition Democratic Party and its satellite party won a combined 175 seats in the 300-member National Assembly.
