1985 South Korean legislative election

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1985 South Korean legislative election
Flag of South Korea (1984-1997).svg
  1981 12 February 1985 1988  

All 276 seats to the National Assembly
139 seats needed for a majority
Turnout84.57% (Increase2.svg 6.83pp)
 Majority partyMinority party
  Chun Doo-hwan 1983 (cropped).JPEG 3x4.svg
Leader Chun Doo-hwan Lee Min-woo
Party Democratic Justice New Korean Democratic
Last election151 seatsDid not exist
Seats won14867
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 3New
Popular vote7,040,8115,843,827
Percentage35.25%29.26%
SwingDecrease2.svg 0.39ppNew

 Third partyFourth party
 
Leader Yu Chi-song Kim Jong-cheol
Party Democratic Korea National
Last election8125
Seats won3520
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 46Decrease2.svg 5
Popular vote3,930,9661,828,744
Percentage19.68%9.16%
SwingDecrease2.svg 1.87ppDecrease2.svg 4.09pp

1985 South korea Legislative election Result map.svg
Results by constituency

Speaker before election

Chae Mun-shik
Democratic Justice

Elected Speaker

Lee Jae-hyung
Democratic Justice

Legislative elections were held in South Korea on 12 February 1985. [1] The result was a victory for the Democratic Justice Party, which won 148 of the 276 seats in the National Assembly. Voter turnout was 84.6%.

Contents

Electoral system

Of the 276 seats, 184 were elected in two-member constituencies via single non-transferable vote, while the remainder were allocated via proportional representation at the national level among parties that won five or more seats in constituencies. Two-thirds of those seats would be awarded to the top party (which was then eliminated from further consideration for national seats; see majority jackpot system), with the remainder allocated based on vote share.

Political parties

PartiesLeaderIdeologySeatsStatus
Last electionBefore election
Democratic Justice Party Chun Doo-hwan Conservatism
151 / 276
149 / 276
Government
Democratic Korea Party Yu Chi-song Liberalism
81 / 276
59 / 276
Opposition
New Korean Democratic Party Lee Min-woo Did not exist
32 / 276
Opposition
Korean National Party Kim Jong-cheol Conservatism
25 / 276
24 / 276
Opposition
New Socialist Party
2 / 276
[a]
1 / 276
Opposition
2 / 276
[b]
Civil Rights Party
2 / 276
0 / 276
Opposition
Democratic Farmer's Party
1 / 276
DissolvedOpposition
Liberal National Party
1 / 276
[c]
0 / 276
Opposition

The ruling Democratic Justice Party (DJP) of President Chun Doo-hwan managed to remain the largest party in the National Assembly but faced a tougher challenge from the united opposition.

The New Korean Democratic Party (NKDP) was formed by former members of the New Democratic Party, notably opposition leaders Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam despite being still barred from running. The party made strong gains across the country, largely thanks to its focus on greater democratic rights.

The Korean National Party had been formed by former members of the Democratic Republican Party in the run-up to the 1981 elections. After making some key gains, the party lost ground in these elections, largely thanks to the gains of the NKDP.

The opposition Democratic Korea Party had been the premier opposition party following the 1981 elections, but it suffered major defections to the NKDP.

Results

1
1
35
67
20
148
4
PartyVotes%Seats
FPTPPRTotal+/–
Democratic Justice Party 7,040,81135.258761148–3
New Korean Democratic Party 5,843,82729.26501767New
Democratic Korea Party 3,930,96619.6826935–46
Korean National Party 1,828,7449.1615520–5
New Socialist Party 288,8631.45101New
Workers and Farmers Party185,8590.93000New
New Democratic Party 112,6540.56101New
Civil Rights Party 75,6340.38000–2
National Group Party17,2570.09000New
Independents650,0283.25404–7
Total19,974,643100.00184922760
Valid votes19,974,64398.46
Invalid/blank votes312,0291.54
Total votes20,286,672100.00
Registered voters/turnout23,987,83084.57
Source: Nohlen et al.

By city/province

RegionTotal
seats
Seats won
DJP NKDP DKP KNP NSP NDP Ind.
Seoul 28131410000
Busan 123621000
Daegu 62211000
Incheon 42200000
Gyeonggi 2010433000
Gangwon 126014001
North Chungcheong 84211000
South Chungcheong 168440000
North Jeolla 147213010
South Jeolla 2211550100
North Gyeongsang 2010431002
South Gyeongsang 2010541000
Jeju 21000001
Constituency total18487502615114
PR list92611795000
Total276148673520114

Notes

References

  1. Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p420 ISBN   0-19-924959-8