Yoon party scrambles as opposition gains

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol promised "reform" and the head of his ruling party resigned yesterday after a disastrous election increased the opposition's stranglehold on parliament.

In addition to People Power Party leader Han Dong Hoon, Prime Minister Han Duck Soo and a string of senior aides also offered to step down, local media said.

The result has turned Yoon into a lame duck president for the remaining three years in office - making him the first South Korean president whose party has not controlled the legislature at any point in their tenure.

It's likely to lead to "extreme confrontation" and gridlock, said a professor at Myongji University.

Yoon, 63, has taken a tough line with the nuclear-armed North while improving ties with Washington and former colonial occupier Japan.

But the former prosecutor is unloved among voters, with many angry at inequality, sky-high housing prices and youth unemployment in the nation of 51 million people.

The opposition also hammered Yoon after he called the price of green onions, a staple in Korean cooking, "reasonable" and a video of his wife accepting a US$2,200 (HK$17,160) designer handbag was widely circulated.

"I will humbly honor the will of the people expressed in the general election, reform the state affairs, and do my best to stabilize the economy and people's livelihood," Yoon said.

With all votes counted, results from the National Election Commission and major broadcasters showed Yoon's conservative People Power Party and its satellite sliding from 114 seats in parliament to just 108.

The big winners were Lee Jae Myung's Democratic Party and its partner, which saw their seat tally rise to 175 from 156 in the outgoing legislature.

The newly-founded Rebuilding Korea party, led by former justice minister Cho Kuk, capitalized on discontent with the two main parties to pick up 12 seats.

The landslide was, however, less emphatic than suggested by exit polls, with all opposition parties combined falling short of a super-majority of 200 seats in the 300-strong National Assembly.

Yoon had hoped the PPP would win a majority in parliament and push through his legislative agenda.

This includes planned healthcare reforms - that are backed by voters but have sparked a crippling strike by doctors - and a pledge to abolish the ministry of gender equality.