S. Korea's ruling party fails to regain majority in parliamentary election

South Korea's ruling party failed to regain a majority in the parliamentary election on Wednesday, heralding hardships that President Park Geun-hye's economic reform drive may face during the remaining tenure of her five-year term.

The ruling Saenuri Party gained a total of 122 parliamentary seats in the 300-seat National Assembly after the 20th general election, according to the National Election Commission Thursday.

It was lower than the achievement of the main opposition Minjoo Party that won 123 parliamentary seats, while the newly launched People's Party took 38 seats. The minor Justice Party won six seats, and 11 independent candidates were elected to the new assembly.

Among 253 electoral districts, Saenuri won 105 seats, unexpectedly falling short of 110 seats that the main opposition party took. The People's Party gained 25 seats, while the Justice Party took two seats. The remaining 11 seats were awarded to independent candidates.

In the proportional representation to vote for a political party voting, the ruling party gained 17 seats, with the Minjoo Party and the People's Party winning 13 seats respectively. The Justice Party gained four seats.

Excluding the independent legislagors, opposition parties garnered a total of 167 parliamentary seats in the election, forming the first majority of opposition parties in 16 years.

The governing party missed expectations for a two-thirds super majority, even failing to achieve the worst scenario of winning at least 145 seats.

Park's conservative party failed to win at least one-third of total seats in the metropolitan area that has a total of 122 constituencies.

Shockingly enough, Saenuri surrendered to Minjoo and independent candidates in 17 of a combined 65 electoral districts in southeastern Gyeongsang province, a traditional home turf to the ruling party and President Park.

The main opposition party unexpectedly won a landslide victory in Seoul and its suburban areas, becoming a party having the highest number of parliamentary seats in the metropolitan region.

The People's Party debuted successfully in the election, winning 38 seats in the assembly. It was much higher than 20 seats required to become a bargaining body in the parliament.

The People's Party was created earlier this year by those who defected from Minjoo, including former Minjoo Party co-chairman Ahn Cheol-soo widely seen as a potential candidate for next year's presidential election. Enditem