SEOUL—South Koreans vote on Wednesday for a new parliament, widely expected to give conservatives the majority that new President Lee Myung-bak needs to push through his plans for sweeping change to revitalise the economy.
Opinion polls suggested Lee's Grand National Party (GNP) will win at least 160 seats in the 299-seat assembly, with the left-of-centre United Democratic Party lucky to muster 100.
"It's not 180 seats or 200 seats we want. All we ask for is 150 seats plus one or two," GNP chief Kang Jae-sup told followers on the last day of campaigning. "And then President Lee, who was elected to get the job done, can feel free to get the job done."
If all goes as predicted, the conservatives would win an outright majority in a parliamentary election for the first time in more than 20 years.
Lee, who took office in February, has pledged to boost economic growth this year to 6 percent from 5 percent last year, cut the red tape stifling business and make the economy more open and competitive.
South Koreans go to the polls on Wednesday to vote in a parliamentary election where all 299 seats in the National Assembly are up for grabs.
Here is a look at the race:
What's At Stake
President Lee Myung-bak's conservative Grand National Party (GNP) is hoping to take control of parliament away from its left-of-centre opponents.
Lee needs a GNP majority to push through his planned economic reforms of tax cuts and deregulation to free up business. It would also likely give him quick approval for a sweeping trade deal reached with the United States.
Without a GNP majority, Lee is set for years of confrontation and legislative gridlock.
The Numbers Game
Voters select MPs in 245 constituencies, with the remainder of the seats allotted by proportional representation. Projections made by South Korean newspapers say the GNP is expected to capture 150 to 170 seats.
MPs serve for four years. It is the first time in 20 years of democratic elections that the presidential and parliamentary terms have started at almost the same time. The president took office in February and the new assembly opens in late May.
At present, the biggest party is the left-of-centre United Democratic Party with 136 seats. The GNP has 112 seats.
Election Day Outline
Voting ends at 6 p.m. local time (0900 GMT). Voting age is 19 and the country has 37.79 million voters.
Television networks usually report their projections shortly after the voting stops. The National Election Commission usually declares winners for the races at about 2 a.m. (1700 GMT to 1800 GMT)
The new parliament is seated on May 30.
Poll Numbers
The GNP is supported by 42 percent while the United Democratic Party has a support rate of 15 percent, according to a poll conducted by Gallup Korea. Voters said the main issues in the race are revitalising the economy and President Lee's plan to build a cross-country canal.
Races To Watch
The former presidential nominee for the left-of-centre party Chung Dong-young is squaring off against one of the country's richest people, Chung Mong-joon, an heir of the Hyundai Group fortune, who is running for a seat in Seoul as the GNP nominee.
The head of the United Democratic Party, Sohn Hak-kyu, is trying to defeat GNP incumbent Park Jin in a constituency in the heart of Seoul.
Communist North Korea has turned up the heat, and on the eve of the election, branded Lee a traitor, saying his demands for the impoverished state to change its ways were pushing the Korean peninsula back to war.
But voters, accustomed to years of anti-South rhetoric, appear to have ignored the latest barbs from its irritable neighbour in a campaign that has been largely devoid of debate on any serious issue.
A National Election Commission poll showed turnout could be the lowest in the country's 20-year history of democratic elections with just half the electorate bothering to vote.
To lure voters to the polling booths, the commission is running an advertising campaign featuring a popular song and dance group of teenage girls, and offering discounts to museums and parks.
But the once-predicted victory of two-thirds of the parliamentary seats, enough to change the constitution, looks unlikely. Lee has seen his initial high support slip as his government stumbled out of the blocks and bungled personnel appointments.
The damage from a global downturn began to look far more serious for South Korea just as he took office, with some analysts calling his economic growth target far too optimistic.
Some analysts said GNP infighting in the run-up to the election could make the party, even with a majority in the new National Assembly from late-May, tricky for Lee to manage and ensure his policy changes are turned into law.
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