INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
to President Yoon Suk Yeol and his conservative party but likely falling just short of a super majority.The Democratic Party (DP) was
projected to take 175 of the 300 seats in the new assembly, data from the National Election Commission and network broadcasters showed with
all votes counted as of 10:32 a.m
(0132 GMT).A splinter liberal party considered allied with the DP was expected to take 12 seats, projections showed, leaving the bloc short
of the 200 seats needed for a super-majority
An official announcement of the results is due later on Thursday.DP leader Lee Jae-myung, who led a combative campaign against Yoon, said
referendum on Yoon, whose popularity has suffered amid a cost-of-living crisis and a spate of political scandals.Yoon, who took office in
showing.He has suffered low ratings for months, hamstrung in implementing his pledges to cut taxes, ease business regulations and expand
Yoon has clashed with the liberals on policies that require legislation, such as tax incentives for businesses and whether to tax capital
staff said.Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and other senior aides had also offered to resign after the election defeat, Yonhap news
reported.Political science professor Lee Jun-han of Incheon National University said the poll had all the characteristics of a midterm
corporate stocks considered to be trading at a discount compared to global peers.In early trading on Thursday, some stocks that had rallied
of the economy and his refusal to acknowledge his wife acted improperly when she accepted a Dior bag as gift.First lady Kim Keon Hee has not
been seen in public since Dec
15 and was absent when Yoon voted, reflecting the view by some analysts and opposition party members that she had become a political
Kuk leading a splinter third party, former PPP leader Lee Jun-seok who had split with Yoon in a feud, and Choo Mi-ae, who as former justice
minister clashed with Yoon when he was the top prosecutor.Yoon is, however, likely to avoid the super-majority of a two-third opposition
control that could break presidential vetoes and pass constitutional amendments.But nearing the end of the first two years of his five-year
single term allowed by the constitution, Yoon was likely to slip into a lame duck status, some analysts said.Mason Richey, a professor at
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, said Yoon might focus more on his overseas agenda now, though those plans could also be at risk if the
