1996 South Korean legislative election

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1996 South Korean legislative election
Flag of South Korea (1984-1997).svg
  1992 11 April 1996 2000  

All 299 seats in the National Assembly
150 seats needed for a majority
Turnout63.91% (Decrease2.svg 7.95pp)
 Majority partyMinority party
  Kim Young-sam presidential portrait.jpg 385kimdaejung19980105.jpg
Leader Kim Young-sam Kim Dae-jung
Party New Korea National Congress
Last election149 seats [a] Did not exist
Seats won13979
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 10New
Popular vote6,783,7304,971,961
Percentage34.52%25.30%
SwingDecrease2.svg 3.97ppNew

 Third partyFourth party
  Kim Jong-pil 1999.png
Leader Kim Jong-pil Park Il
Chang Eul-byung
Party United Liberal Democrats United Democratic
Last election32 seats [b] 97 seats [c]
Seats won5015
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 18Decrease2.svg 82
Popular vote3,178,4742,207,695
Percentage16.17%11.23%
SwingDecrease2.svg 2.99ppDecrease2.svg 17.94pp

15dae congseon gyeolgwa.png

Speaker before election

Hwang Nak-joo
New Korea

Elected Speaker

Kim Soo-han
New Korea

Legislative elections were held in South Korea on 12 April 1996. [1] The result was a victory for the New Korea Party, which won 139 of the 299 seats in the National Assembly. Voter turnout was 63.9%. Although the New Korea Party remained the largest party in the National Assembly, it failed to win the majority.

Contents

Electoral system

Of the 299 seats, 253 were elected in single-member districts via first-past-the-post voting, while the remainder were allocated via proportional representation at the national level. Proportional seats were only available to parties which won three percent of the national valid vote among seat-allocated parties and/or won five or more constituency seats.

Political parties

PartiesLeaderIdeologySeatsStatus
Last electionBefore election
New Korea Party [d] Kim Young-sam Conservatism
149 / 299
146 / 299
Government
National Congress for New Politics Cho Soon-hyung Liberalism Did not exist
52 / 299
Opposition
United Democratic Party Park Il
Chang Eul-byung
97 / 299
[e]
36 / 299
Opposition
United Liberal Democrats Kim Jong-pil Conservatism
31 / 299
[f]
29 / 299
Opposition
1 / 299
[g]

The governing New Korea Party (formerly the Democratic Liberal Party) of President Kim Young-sam, lost its absolute congressional majority. The election was held three years into President Kim's five year mandate.

The opposition National Congress for New Politics was formed by veteran opposition leader Kim Dae-jung and his supporters in the Democratic Party. Kim had retired from politics following his loss in the 1992 Presidential election but formed the new party after his return in 1995.

The right-wing United Liberal Democrats was led by former Prime Minister of South Korea Kim Jong-pil, a former ally of President Kim. He had been a member of the former ruling Democratic Liberal Party but broke with it after Kim's victory in 1992. It joined with Kim Dae Jung's opposition and formed coalition.

The United Democratic Party had once been the premier opposition party. It supported Kim Dae-jung's unsuccessful Presidential campaign in 1992 and was the largest opposition party in the outgoing National Assembly. However, following the defection of Kim and his supporters, the party was reduced to a minor force. It later merged to Kim Young-sam's party.

Results

79
15
139
50
16
PartyVotes%Seats
FPTPPRTotal+/–
New Korea Party 6,783,73034.5212118139–10
National Congress for New Politics 4,971,96125.30661379New
United Liberal Democrats 3,178,47416.1741950+18
United Democratic Party 2,207,69511.239615–82
Unified People of Non-faction Party177,0500.90000New
Great Korean Democratic Party3,1140.02000New
21st Century Korean Independence Party1,6930.01000New
Chinmin Party5710.00000New
Independents2,328,78511.8516016–5
Total19,653,073100.00253462990
Valid votes19,653,07397.67
Invalid/blank votes469,7262.33
Total votes20,122,799100.00
Registered voters/turnout31,488,29463.91
Source: Nohlen et al.

By city or province

RegionTotal
seats
Seats won
NKP NCNP ULD UDP Ind.
Seoul 472718011
Busan 21210000
Daegu 1320803
Incheon 1192000
Gwangju 606000
Daejeon 700700
Gyeonggi 381810532
Gangwon 1390220
North Chungcheong 820501
South Chungcheong 13101200
North Jeolla 14113000
South Jeolla 17017000
North Gyeongsang 19110215
South Gyeongsang 23170024
Jeju 330000
Constituency total2531216641916
PR list461813960
Total29913979501516

Notes

References

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