{"id":12014,"date":"2024-03-28T09:54:23","date_gmt":"2024-03-28T09:54:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/28\/south-koreas-parliament-election-2024-what-you-need-to-know\/"},"modified":"2024-03-28T09:54:23","modified_gmt":"2024-03-28T09:54:23","slug":"south-koreas-parliament-election-2024-what-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/28\/south-koreas-parliament-election-2024-what-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korea\u2019s Parliament Election 2024: What You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/03\/28\/multimedia\/28skorea-election-explainer-ptqf\/28skorea-election-explainer-ptqf-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"South Korea\u2019s Parliament Election 2024: What You Need to Know\" title=\"South Korea\u2019s Parliament Election 2024: What You Need to Know\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<hr class=\"css-7ad88g e1mu4ftr0\"\/>\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-544caec2\">Why does this election matter?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">South Korea\u200bns go to the polls on April 10 to select a new 300-member National Assembly. The parliamentary elections are widely seen as a midterm referendum on President Yoon Suk Yeol. They will also serve as a vote of confidence on the opposition Democratic Party, which has held majority control in the Assembly for the past four years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Yoon <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/03\/09\/world\/asia\/south-korea-election-yoon-suk-yeol.html\" title=\"\">won the presidential election<\/a> in March 2022 by a razor-thin margin, and three months later, his People Power Party <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/06\/01\/world\/asia\/korea-election-conservatives.html\" title=\"\">won the most<\/a> big-city mayor and provincial governor races. But two major handicaps have hobbled his presidency: his party\u2019s lack of control in the single-chamber Assembly and Mr. Yoon\u2019s low approval ratings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u200bAn electoral victory by his party could add momentum to Mr. Yoon\u2019s four major reform programs involving the country\u2019s <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/29\/world\/asia\/doctor-strike-south-korea.html\" title=\"\">health care<\/a>, education, labor and national pension systems, as well as <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/01\/01\/world\/asia\/south-korea-men-anti-feminists.html\" title=\"\">his promise to abolish<\/a> the nation\u2019s ministry of gender equality. Mr. Yoon will also see it as lending political legitimacy to his <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/04\/29\/world\/asia\/yoon-biden-south-korea.html\" title=\"\">policy<\/a> of aligning South Korea more closely with the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But if the opposition scores a decisive win, it will further weaken Mr. Yoon\u2019s leadership and may turn him into an early lame duck, political analysts say.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-4d6abe5\">What are the big election issues?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">South Korea faces a host of issues with no easy solution: a slowing economy, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/03\/23\/world\/asia\/korea-housing-lh-scandal-moon-election.html\" title=\"\">runaway housing prices<\/a>, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/02\/world\/asia\/south-korea-foreign-workers.html\" title=\"\">a rapidly aging population<\/a>, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/10\/21\/world\/asia\/south-korea-cho-kuk-gold-spoon-elite.html\" title=\"\">a widening income gap<\/a>, a gender divide <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/01\/01\/world\/asia\/south-korea-men-anti-feminists.html\" title=\"\">especially among its young generation<\/a> and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2023\/06\/02\/world\/asia\/north-korea-nuclear.html\" title=\"\">a growing nuclear and missile threat<\/a> from North Korea.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But South Korea\u2019s <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/10\/19\/world\/asia\/south-korea-protests.html\" title=\"\">worsening political polarization<\/a> means that practically every sensitive issue is seen through a partisan lens. And political analysts say that it also means that this election is run not on any sustained policy debate but more on stoking and playing to voters\u2019 <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/01\/03\/world\/asia\/south-korea-opposition-leader-stabbing.html\" title=\"\">fears and resentments<\/a> of the other side.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Surveys in recent weeks showed that a majority of South Koreans disapproved of Mr. Yoon\u2019s performance, which has emerged as a key election issue. He was unpopular especially among voters in their 50s and younger. But the same surveys also found respondents distrustful of the opposition Democratic Party, with its leader, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/09\/18\/world\/asia\/south-korea-hunger-strike-lee-jae-myung.html\" title=\"\">Lee Jae-myung<\/a>, standing trial on bribery and other criminal charges. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Yoon\u2019s party appeals to conservative voters by arguing that its election victory would propel his campaign to drive out what he calls corrupt \u201canti-state\u201d progressives from the center of South Korean politics. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The liberal opposition\u2019s main catchphrase is to \u201cpunish\u201d the Yoon government for everything from rising consumer prices to its veto of a parliamentary bill that would have launched an independent investigation into <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/01\/world\/asia\/south-korea-first-lady-dior.html\" title=\"\">allegations of corruption<\/a> against the first lady, Kim Keon Hee. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-477290e0\">How do they select the Assembly?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Of the 300 parliamentary seats up for grabs, 254 are elected through voting at as many electoral districts across the country. Those races will largely be a contest between the two main parties: Mr. Yoon\u2019s People Power Party and the opposition Democratic Party. The other 46 seats, not attached to any voting districts, are distributed among smaller political parties, roughly according to the numbers of votes they win in a parallel nationwide polling.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Political parties did not finish nominating their candidates until less than a month before election day, giving voters little time to study them and the issues they stand for. But in South Korea, parliamentary elections are often decided more by the popularity of political parties and the sitting president than by the individual candidates.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-78149745\">When will we learn the result?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Voting begins at 6 a.m. local time, and, unless there\u2019s an extremely tight race, it should be clear by early the next day which party has won.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-754f265f\">Where can I find out more?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/11\/10\/world\/asia\/south-korea-fake-news-disinformation.html\" title=\"\">The President\u2019s War Against \u2018Fake News\u2019 Raises Alarms in South Korea<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/01\/world\/asia\/south-korea-first-lady-dior.html\" title=\"\">The First Lady\u2019s Dior Pouch Scandal Triggers Political Uproar<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why does this election matter? South Korea\u200bns go to the polls on April 10 to select a new 300-member National Assembly. The parliamentary elections are widely seen as a midterm referendum on President Yoon Suk Yeol. They will also serve as a vote of confidence on the opposition Democratic Party, which has held majority control [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/03\/28\/multimedia\/28skorea-election-explainer-ptqf\/28skorea-election-explainer-ptqf-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[50,17318,3321,6967],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12014"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12014"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12016,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12014\/revisions\/12016"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}