The ruling Uri Party was again defeated in yesterday’s by-elections. The defeat continues a string of party losses in by-elections on May 31 and July 26. Some domestic experts say that the result shows the trend of Korean folks and their icy attitude toward the party.

Hoping to recover lost seats, the Uri Party fielded relatively few candidates in races in seven cities and counties, but the consequence of the election shows they lost all the races miserably.

Not surprisingly, Lee Won Bok of the major opposition Grand National Party appeared to have won the race in the Incheon Namdong B district. He won 57.7% of the vote and his nearest opponent, Bae Jin Gyo of the minor opposition Democratic Labor Party, took second place. Surprisingly, the ruling party’s candidate was last.

In the Jeonnam Haenam-Jindo district race, Chae Il Byung of the minor Democratic Party also appeared to have crushed his rival, Park Yang Soo of the Uri Party by winning 62.5%.

From the by-election, it can be forecast that the Democratic Party can lead a political reshuffle for the next presidential election.

The ruling party will discuss the election during an emergency meeting.

The National Election Commission revealed that, different from previous forecasts, voter turnout was a little higher, reaching 34.1%, up 9.3% from the last by-election in June.

입력시간: 2006. 10.27. 08:15