The 2000 Parliamentary Election in South Korea

The parliamentary election held in South Korea on April 13, 2000, was of great importance to both the government and opposition parties. For the ruling Millennium Democratic Party (MDP), winning a majority in the election was imperative if the Kim Dae-Jung government was to push ahead with its political and economic reform programs. A defeat in the April election would not only weaken the government's ability to control the legislative agenda but also turn the reformist regime into a lame duck one. For its part, the leading opposition party, the Grand National Party (GNP), defined the election as a de facto referendum on the Kim government; the GNP thus saw achieving a favorable result as a means of repudiating the government's misdeeds and ineptitude in dealing with a number of political and economic issues. Furthermore, the GNP regarded winning a majority in the National Assembly as essential in order to check what it saw as the government's abuse of power. Finally, for both the government and the opposition, the 2000 election had added significance in that it was regarded as a major precursor to the next presidential election, scheduled for December 2002. Thus, the stakes were high. In the end, the election produced what has been termed a yoso yadae (small government party and large opposition) situation. This article will examine South Korea's 2000 parliamentary election with an emphasis on analyzing the factors that contributed to bringing about the yoso yadae result. In addition, the article will explore the implications that the election results may have for the future of South Korean politics in general and party politics in particular.