SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean voters handed President Park Geun-hye a stunning political setback by denying her conservative party a majority in the next National Assembly, poll results showed Thursday.
The outcome, which came as a surprise to many, will likely threaten Park’s plans to push ahead with controversial economic reforms, including plans to make it easier for companies to lay off workers, and blow open next year’s presidential race. The emergence of a new center-left party also ensures further changes to South Korea’s political landscape, which had long been shaped by two-party dynamics.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye comes out of a polling booth to cast her ballot for parliamentary elections at a polling station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, April 13, 2016. (Baek Seung-ryul/Yonhap via AP) KOREA OUT
