Seoul (AsiaNews/Agencies) The reformist left-wing Uri party has won the majority of seats in the country's parliamentary elections. Many South Korean analysts have made comments expressing great enthusiasm in reference to a "new era".
Election results confirm the stance shared by the large majority of popular opinion, which was against the impeachment of President Roh Moo-hyun. Roh has Uri support while not actually being a party member.
The Uri party won 152 of the 299 total seats in Parliament. The Grand National Party (GNP) took 121 (having won 145 in the prior elections). There was a huge drop in support for the Democratic Millennium Party (DMP), winning just 9 seats versus the 62 it took during the last general elections. The DMP is the party which played a determining role in the impeachment process against President Roh, voting together with the GNP party for his removal from office.
Of the 35.6 million lawful voters 59.7% voted 2% more than in previous elections.
Some political analysts have said that election outcomes will have repercussions on the Constitutional Court's mid-September verdict on the president's impeachment. Currently Roh has been suspended from his powers as president.
Roh was impeached for not having kept his neutrality, since he publicly declared support for the Uri party the new political party born out of a split within the MDP party (which had initially backed Roh). Yet many analysts believe that the impeachment was a form of exploitation in view of the upcoming elections.
Since U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney will be visiting Seoul, the Iraq issue has jumped to the forefront of interests. Uri leader Chung Dong-young told Reuters that Seoul is for now committed to the mission in Iraq, but must revise its position "should security conditions worsen". Currently there are a few hundred South Korean medics and army engineers serving in Iraq while the government is planning to send over 3000 army and non-military personnel. (MR)
