A quick update on election results. President Lee Myung-Bak's party, the conservative Grand National Party (한 나라당), did not do as well as originally expected, but did manage to capture a slim majority in the legislature, with 153 seats out of 299. (I think these might be the guys in blue in my previous post, but I'm not sure.) The former majority party, the United Democratic Party (통합민주당), suffered serious losses.
Given his slim parliamentary majority, Lee Myung-Bak will probably be able to implement a good chunk of his domestic program, which includes business-friendly policies to help promote economic growth. He's also expected to take a harder line with North Korea than the previous more liberal administrations.
Turnout in this election was extremely low; there's been a lot of discussion of the reasons for such voter apathy, especially since the turnout was pretty high for the presidential election last winter, and there is widespread anxiety about the economic situation here.
The low turnout was despite the fact that the government was giving away vouchers for government-run museums and parks worth 2,000 won (about US $2) to anyone who voted!
(Sorry, no pictures this time!)
(By the way, this is Post #100!)
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