민주•시민, 21대 총선 180석 확보…역대급 거여(巨與) 나왔다

Election Verdict. The South Korean public came out to vote Wednesday in record numbers, and the result was a resounding win for the ruling Democratic Party.
The party won three-fifths of the 300 seats in the National Assembly.
It was a night to forget for the opposition bloc, whose leader announced he would resign.
Our political correspondent Kim Mok-yeon has our top story tonight.
South Korea's ruling Democratic Party won a landslide victory in Wednesday's election, which had the highest voter turnout for a general election in 28 years.
The final results were confirmed early on Thursday afternoon, and they show the ruling Democratic Party secured 163 local district seats, while the main opposition United Future Party won 84 constituencies.
Five seats went to independent candidates and one went to the leftist Justice Party.
When combining the results of the proportional seats, the ruling party and its satellite Civil Together Party took 180 seats, which account for three-fifths of the 300-seat parliament. The main opposition party and its satellite Future Korea Party took a total of 103 seats.
With the results, the ruling bloc gained 57 additional seats compared to the previous national assembly, while the main opposition lost 19 seats.
The ruling party vowed to do its best to overcome the difficulties facing the nation.
"I feel a great sense of responsibility. We put forward overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic and reviving the nation's economy as our top priority and will do our best to acheive this. We will make concrete outcomes to fulfill the Moon Jae-in administration's initial promises."
The 180 seats makes the ruling Democratic Party the largest ruling party in 30 years, since the Democratic Liberal Party in 1990.
And the 180-seat mark is significant in Korean politics as it's the threshold for votes to put the passage of a bill on fast-track.
This means that the ruling party will be able to pass bills without engaging in political squabbles with the opposition parties, except for constitutional revisions which require at least 200 votes on the floor.
The main opposition United Future Party meanwhile failed to turn the tables and block the Democratic Party's fourth straight win in nationwide elections, from the 2016 general elections to the presidential elections and the local elections.
"As promised, I will take full responsibility for the results of the election and will resign from my post."
The chief of the main opposition United Future Party Hwang Kyo-ahn announced his resignation as he took responsibility for the election results.
Kim Mok-yeon, Arirang News.