Pro-govt Uri Party sweeps ROK polls

The Uri Party, loyal to the embattled president, secured 128 constituencies and its rival Grand National Party obtained 103 of the districts whose votes had been counted as of midnight.

The 17th legislative polls elected 243 National Assembly members by direct voting and 56 by proportional representation.

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Exit polls, and earlier partial vote counting by the major broadcasting companies, had predicted that Uri would clinch the majority by garnering 150 seats in the 299-seat National Assembly. The liberal Uri Party held 49 seats in the outgoing parliament.

The conservative GNP was expected to take 122 seats when all the votes were counted, down from its current 137, as its popularity plunged due to its push for the impeachment and irregularities of some of its members. The second opposition Millennium Democratic Party and the progressive Democratic Labor Party would each garner nine seats, the polls predicted.

Political analysts said the public gave huge support to Uri in a backlash against the opposition-led impeachment of the president and because it hoped to see more reforms in Korea's corrupt politics.

With the resounding victory of the de facto ruling Uri, the liberal Roh administration is expected to forge smooth cooperation with the incoming parliament in implementing its reform policies, compared with its continued conflicts with the outgoing National Assembly that was dominated by the opposition forces.