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South Korea’s prime minister and top presidential officials resign en masse

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South Korea’s prime minister and senior presidential officials have offered to resign en masse following Wednesday’s parliamentary elections.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and all senior presidential advisers to conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol submitted their resignations, according to Yoon’s office, after Wednesday’s elections dealt a huge blow to Yeol’s party. The elections secured the liberal opposition forces’ control of parliament until after Yoon completes his single five-year term in 2027. 

The results will likely set back Yoon’s domestic agenda and weaken his grip on the party. He will also have to face the opposition’s intensifying political offensive during his remaining three years, experts say.

Yoon’s office did not immediately say whether Yoon would accept their resignations.

HERE’S WHAT SOUTH KOREANS ARE CONCERNED ABOUT AS THEY VOTE FOR PARLIAMENT THIS WEEK

Han Duck-soo

South Korea’s Prime Minster Han Duck-soo speaks during a cabinet meeting at the government complex in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 11, 2024.  (Hwang Kwang-mo/Yonhap via AP)

With most of the votes counted, the main opposition Democratic Party and its satellite party appeared to have won a combined 175 seats in the 300-member National Assembly, according to South Korean media tallies.

Yoon’s ruling People Power Party was projected to have obtained 108 seats.

The final official results were expected later Thursday.

Han Dong-hoon

South Korea’s ruling People Power Party’s leader Han Dong-hoon gestures during his press conference at the party’s headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday, April 11, 2024.  (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

The final voter turnout for South Korea’s 44 million eligible voters was the highest for a parliamentary election since 1992, according to the National Election Commission.

HOW SOUTH KOREA’S ELECTION OF YOON SUK YEOL MAY AFFECT RELATIONSHIP WITH US

In a news conference, ruling People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon announced he was stepping down to take responsibility for the election defeat.

«I apologize to the people on behalf of our party, which wasn’t good enough to win the people’s choices,» he said.

People Power Party's leader

South Korea’s ruling People Power Party’s leader Han Dong-hoon arrives to hold his press conference at the party’s headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday, April 11, 2024.  (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Yoon, a former top prosecutor who took office in 2022, will stay in power and his major foreign policies will likely be unchanged. 

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, who lost the 2022 presidential election to Yoon, praised Wednesday’s results. 

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«The results of the parliamentary elections are not the victory by the Democratic Party, but the great victory by our people,» Lee said Thursday. «Now, the elections are over. Both the ruling and opposition political parties must pull together all their strength to resolve economic and public livelihood problems.»

Lee Jae-myung

South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung speaks during the disbandment ceremony of the party’s election committee for the parliamentary election at the party’s headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 11, 2024.  (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

In South Korea, executive power is mostly wielded by the president, but the prime minister is the country’s No. 2 official and would take power if the president becomes incapacitated.

The incoming parliament is to begin meeting on May 30 for a four-year term. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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French PM to resign as leftists nab majority of parliamentary seats in snap election

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A far-left political coalition that unexpectedly assembled ahead of France’s snap elections is projected to win the majority of parliamentary seats up for grabs and the country’s prime minister has announced his intention to resign – leading the country into unforeseen territory and possible turmoil.

As the election results came in, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced he will be turning in his resignation on Monday. 

President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance was projected to take the second most seats, while the far right was projected to come in third.

Macron called the snap election just four weeks ago, after the right-wing National Rally (RN) scored enormous success in the European Parliamentary elections in June. Polling before the first round of voting indicated RN would continue to dominate. However, more recent polling ahead of the runoff indicates those returns have diminished and RN will fall short of a clear majority. 

FRENCH ELECTION PREVIEW: POLLS SHOW RIGHT-WING PARTY LEADS RUNOFF AS OPPONENTS URGE TACTICAL VOTING

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal delivers a speech after the second round of the legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

The first round occurred on June 30 and resulted in just 76 of the 577 constituencies in the French National Assembly determining their representative. Candidates who did not receive an outright majority in the first round of voting went on to a second-round runoff, which happened on Sunday.

Going into the election, France was set to elect the RN as the largest party in government, though it was possible no party might emerge with a clear majority in the tightly contested election.

When the results started to come in, projections changed toward the left, signifying a lack of majority for any single alliance, which threatened to plunge France into economic and political turmoil.

FRANCE’S RIGHT-WING NATIONAL RALLY LOOKS TO SEIZE ON RECENT ELECTORAL GAINS

Jean-Luc-Melenchon

Far-left La France Insoumise – LFI – (France Unbowed) founder Jean-Luc Melenchon delivers a speech at the party election night headquarters, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

The final results of the election are not expected until late Sunday or early Monday.

Macron made a huge gamble when he called for the snap election, and the projections show the gamble may not have paid off for the unpopular president and his alliance, which lost control of parliament.

While the far-right RN greatly increased the number of seats it now holds in parliament, the results fell short of the party’s expectations.

FRANCE’S GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON IS ATTACKED ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL, DAYS BEFORE DECISIVE ELECTION

socialist-party reacting

Supporters of the Socialist Party react after the second round of the legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024, at their election night headquarters in Paris.  (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon urged Macron to invite the leftist New Popular Front coalition to form a government, given projections that put it in the lead.

Macron’s office said the president would «wait for the new National Assembly to organize itself» before making any decisions.

RIVALS MOVE TO BLOCK FRANCE’S RIGHT-WING NATIONAL PARTY’S ELECTION MOMENTUM

Macron votes

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron leave the voting booth before voting for the second round of the legislative elections in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, northern France, Sunday, July 7 2024. Voting has begun in mainland France on Sunday in pivotal runoff elections that could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision — or produce a hung parliament and political deadlock. (Mohammed Badra, Pool via AP)

A hung parliament with no single bloc coming close to getting the 289 seats needed for an absolute majority in the National Assembly, the more powerful of France’s two legislative chambers, would be unknown territory for modern France.

France doesn’t have a tradition of lawmakers from rival political camps coming together to form a working majority.

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The projections, if confirmed by official counts, will spell intense uncertainty for a pillar of the European Union and its second-largest economy, with no clarity about who might partner with Macron as prime minister in governing France.

Fox News Digital’s Peter Aitken and The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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