South Korea held its legislative elections on April 10. It was the last chance for President Yoon Suk-yeol to secure a legislative majority that could make progress on his agenda. The opposition Democratic Party (DP) had won in a landslide in the 2020 polls; Yoon and his People Power Power (PPP) were hoping to avoid a repeat of that defeat.
Those hopes were roundly dashed, as the DP actually expanded on its majority instead.
Many saw the results as a direct referendum on Yoon, although the president wasn’t on the ballot (and won’t be again, as South Korean presidents cannot run for re-election). The result effectively leaves Yoon a lame duck – except in the realm of foreign policy, where South Korea’s presidential system gives the executive branch near total control.
In this interview, Darcie Draudt-Véjares, a fellow for Korean studies in the Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, discusses the election results and the impact on the Yoon administration’s policy choices moving forward. Ultimately, she says, “Voter choices were largely driven by everyday economic issues… and the more interventionist policies to address these tend to align with the progressive platform.”
The Democratic Party won in a landslide, besting its record majority from the last election. What issues were driving voting choices this year? Was the legislative election a referendum on President Yoon?
Certainly, President Yoon has dismal approval ratings. Because of the association of party performance with public views of the president, the election does in some way reflect assessment of his tenure to date. But Yoon’s performance and policy positions alone cannot explain the public’s favoring the DP.
Voter choices were largely driven by everyday economic issues such as youth unemployment, housing shortages, and the high cost of real estate, education, and healthcare – and the more interventionist policies to address these tend to align with the progressive platform.
On these issues of inequality, Yoon’s public gaffes, such as the internationally ridiculed “spring onion” incident, made many citizens feel that Yoon was out of touch with the common economic struggles of faced by the Korean majority.