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Election Profile:

Flag of South Korea Source for election date

At stake in this election:

  • 299 seats in the National Assembly (Kukhoe)

Description of government structure:

  • Chief of State: President GOH Kun *
  • Head of Government: Prime Minister GOH Kun
  • Assembly: South Korea has a unicameral National Assembly (Kukhoe) with 299 seats.

* On March 12, President ROH Moo-hyun was impeached by the National Assembly for violating campaign funding regulations. Currently, Prime Minister GOH Kun is acting as interim President until the elections are over and the constitutional court reaches a verdict about ROH’s status.

Description of electoral system:

  • The President is elected by popular vote to serve a 5-year term.
  • In the National Assembly (Kukhoe), 243 members are elected in single-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms and 56 members are elected by proportional representation to serve 4-year terms.

Main parties in the electoral race:

  • Party: The Uri Party*
    Leader: CHUNG Dong-young
    Seats won in this election: 152
    Seats won in last election: 49
  • Party: Grand National Party (GNP)
    Leader: PARK Geun-hye
    Seats won in this election: 121
    Seats won in last election: 137
  • Party: Democratic Labor Party (DLP)
    Leader: KWON Young-Ghil
    Seats won in this election: 10
    Seats won in last election: 0
  • Party: Millennium Democratic Party (MDP)
    Leader: CHO Sun-hyong
    Seats won in this election: 9
    Seats won in last election: 59
  • Party: United Liberal Democrats (ULD)
    Leader: N/A
    Seats won in this election: 4
    Seats won in last election: 10
  • Party: Others
    Leader: N/A
    Seats won in this election: 3
    Seats won in last election: N/A

* The Uri Party was formed in late 2003 by former members of the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP)

Last Parliamentary election:

  • Parliamentary elections were last held on April 13, 2000.

Population and number of registered voters:

  • Population: 48,289,037 (July 2003 est.)
  • Registered Voters: 35,596,497 ( 2004 )

Last Updated on 12/22/2005

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