Yoon, 63, has taken a tough line with the nuclear-armed North while improving ties with Washington and former colonial occupier Japan.
But the former prosecutor is unloved among voters, with many angry at inequality, sky-high housing prices and youth unemployment in the nation of 51 million people.
The opposition also hammered Yoon after he called the price of green onions, a staple in Korean cooking, “reasonable” and a video of his wife accepting a US$2,200 designer handbag was widely circulated.
“I will humbly honour the will of the people expressed in the general election, reform the state affairs, and do my best to stabilise the economy and people’s livelihood,” Yoon said, according to his chief of staff Lee Kwan-sup.
With all votes counted on Thursday, results from the National Election Commission and major broadcasters showed Yoon’s conservative People Power Party (PPP) and its satellite sliding from 114 seats in parliament to just 108.
The big winners were Lee Jae-myung’s Democratic Party (DP) and its partner, which saw their seat tally rise to 175 from 156 in the outgoing legislature.
Source: CNA
