# 2008 South Korean legislative election

Legislative elections were held in South Korea on April 9, 2008. The conservative Grand National Party won 153 of 299 seats while the main opposition United Democratic Party won 81 seats. This election marked the lowest-ever voter turnout of 46%.

## Electoral system

The election was held under parallel voting, with 245 members elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting and the remainder elected via proportional representation. Proportional seats were only available to parties which one three percent of the national valid vote among seat-allocated parties and/or won five or more constituency seats.

## Political parties

| Parties | Parties | Leader | Ideology | Seats | Seats | Status |
| Parties | Parties | Leader | Ideology | Last election | Before election | Status |
| | United Democratic Party | Han Myeong-sook | Liberalism | 152 / 299 | 141 / 299 | Government |
| | United Democratic Party | Han Myeong-sook | Liberalism | 9 / 299 | 141 / 299 | Government |
| | Grand National Party | Kang Jae-seop | Conservatism | 121 / 299 | 117 / 299 | Opposition |
| | United Liberal Democrats | Kim Nak-seong | Conservatism | 4 / 273 | Dissolved | Opposition |
| | Liberty Forward Party | Lee Hoi-chang | Conservatism | Did not exist | 10 / 299 | Opposition |
| | Democratic Labor Party | Kwon Young-ghil | Progressivism | 10 / 299 | 7 / 299 | Opposition |
| | Pro-Park Alliance | Suh Chung-won | Conservatism | Did not exist | 3 / 299 | Opposition |
| | Creative Korea Party | Han Myeon-hee | Centrist reformism | Did not exist | 1 / 299 | Opposition |
As of April 9, 2008, there were six political parties represented in the 18th National Assembly of South Korea, in addition to independents:
* Grand National Party (한나라당, Hannara-dang), led by Kang Jae-seop. The current major conservative party within the National Assembly. (153 seats won)
* United Democratic Party (통합민주당, Tongham Minju-dang), led by Son Hak-gyu. The current major liberal party within the National Assembly. (81 seats won)
* Liberty Forward Party (자유선진당, Jayu Seonjin-dang), led by Lee Hoi-chang. The Chungcheong Region-strongholder and current second conservative party within the National Assembly against the GNP. (18 seats won)
* Pro-Park Alliance (친박연대, Chin-bak Yeon-dae), led by Seo Cheong-won, although their inspirational leader is former GNP leader Park Geun-hye. A conservative coalition with Park Geun-hye within the National Assembly that broke away from the GNP after a dispute on the GNP's candidate nomination, which happened just before the election. (14 seats won)
* Democratic Labor Party (민주노동당, Minju Nodong-dang), led by Chun Young-se. A minor but the most progressive party within the 18th National Assembly, against both the Grand Nationals and Democrats. (5 seats won)
* Creative Korea Party (창조한국당, Changjo Hanguk-dang), led by Moon Kook-hyun. A minor but pro-environmental liberal party within the National Assembly, against the Grand Nationals. (3 seats won)
* (no seats) The New Progressive Party (진보신당) Jinbo Shin-dang), led by Sim Sang-jeong and Roh Hoe-chan, won 2.94% votes but not enough to gain any seats. The New Progressive Party split from the Democratic Labor Party as a reaction to nationalism after the 2007 presidential elections.

## Results

5813181415325 :
| Party | Party | Proportional | Proportional | Proportional | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Total seats | +/– |
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Total seats | +/– |
| | Grand National Party | 6,421,727 | 37.48 | 22 | 7,478,776 | 43.45 | 131 | 153 | +32 |
| | United Democratic Party | 4,313,645 | 25.18 | 15 | 4,977,508 | 28.92 | 66 | 81 | –80 |
| | Pro-Park Alliance | 2,258,750 | 13.18 | 8 | 637,351 | 3.70 | 6 | 14 | New |
| | Liberty Forward Party | 1,173,463 | 6.85 | 4 | 984,751 | 5.72 | 14 | 18 | New |
| | Democratic Labor Party | 973,445 | 5.68 | 3 | 583,665 | 3.39 | 2 | 5 | –5 |
| | Creative Korea Party | 651,993 | 3.81 | 2 | 72,803 | 0.42 | 1 | 3 | +3 |
| | New Progressive Party | 504,466 | 2.94 | 0 | 229,500 | 1.33 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Christian Party [ko] | 443,775 | 2.59 | 0 | 3,720 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Party for Peaceful Unification and Family | 180,857 | 1.06 | 0 | 334,715 | 1.94 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Party for Displaced People and National Security | 93,554 | 0.55 | 0 | 1,130 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Socialist Party | 35,496 | 0.21 | 0 | | | | 0 | 0 |
| | Party for Culture and Art | 33,966 | 0.20 | 0 | | | | 0 | New |
| | Party for Citizen | 17,656 | 0.10 | 0 | | | | 0 | New |
| | United Vocational Party | 16,622 | 0.10 | 0 | 881 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Neo-Future Party | 12,122 | 0.07 | 0 | | | | 0 | New |
| | People's Association for Salvation | | | | 513 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Unification Party | | | | 51 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Independents | | | | 1,907,326 | 11.08 | 25 | 25 | +23 |
| Total | Total | 17,131,537 | 100.00 | 54 | 17,212,690 | 100.00 | 245 | 299 | 0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 17,131,537 | 98.37 | | 17,212,690 | 98.83 | | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 284,383 | 1.63 | | 202,976 | 1.17 | | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 17,415,920 | 100.00 | | 17,415,666 | 100.00 | | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 37,796,035 | 46.08 | | 37,796,035 | 46.08 | | | |
| Source: NEC, CLEA, IPU ||||||||||

### Constituency results by city/province

Constituency results by city/province :
| Region | GNP | GNP | UDP | UDP | Pro-Park | Pro-Park | LFP | LFP | DLP | DLP | CKP | CKP | Ind. | Total seats |
| Region | Seats | % | Seats | % | Seats | % | Seats | % | Seats | % | Seats | % | Seats | Total seats |
| Seoul | 40 | 51.2 | 7 | 37.1 | 0 | 1.9 | 0 | 2.3 | 0 | 2.0 | 1 | 1.6 | 0 | 48 |
| Busan | 11 | 47.3 | 1 | 11.8 | 1 | 9.2 | 0 | 2.8 | 0 | 4.3 | – | – | 5 | 18 |
| Daegu | 8 | 61.1 | 0 | 0.8 | 3 | 15.7 | 0 | 2.7 | 0 | 1.8 | – | – | 1 | 12 |
| Incheon | 9 | 48.0 | 2 | 31.6 | – | – | 0 | 4.8 | 0 | 3.4 | 0 | 0.4 | 1 | 12 |
| Gwangju | 0 | 6.1 | 7 | 64.7 | – | – | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 7.7 | – | – | 1 | 8 |
| Daejeon | 0 | 26.6 | 1 | 24.0 | 0 | 4.4 | 5 | 40.0 | 0 | 0.8 | 0 | 0.4 | 0 | 6 |
| Ulsan | 5 | 53.4 | 0 | 2.3 | 0 | 5.5 | – | – | 0 | 18.3 | – | – | 1 | 6 |
| Gyeonggi | 32 | 48.3 | 17 | 37.0 | 1 | 3.8 | 0 | 2.4 | 0 | 2.8 | 0 | 0.1 | 1 | 51 |
| Gangwon | 3 | 44.8 | 2 | 24.6 | – | – | 0 | 8.4 | 0 | 2.9 | 0 | 0.3 | 3 | 8 |
| North Chungcheong | 1 | 39.5 | 6 | 35.3 | 0 | 3.6 | 1 | 14.1 | 0 | 2.3 | 0 | 0.3 | 0 | 8 |
| South Chungcheong | 0 | 30.1 | 1 | 14.3 | 0 | 1.5 | 8 | 46.4 | 0 | 1.1 | 0 | 0.3 | 1 | 10 |
| North Jeolla | 0 | 7.2 | 9 | 54.7 | – | – | – | – | 0 | 1.3 | – | – | 2 | 11 |
| South Jeolla | 0 | 6.1 | 9 | 61.8 | – | – | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 4.8 | – | – | 3 | 12 |
| North Gyeongsang | 9 | 54.3 | 0 | 3.1 | 1 | 6.1 | 0 | 2.0 | 0 | 1.1 | – | – | 5 | 15 |
| South Gyeongsang | 13 | 51.4 | 1 | 8.5. | – | – | 0 | 1.2 | 2 | 9.1 | 0 | 0.4 | 1 | 17 |
| Jeju | 0 | 34.4 | 3 | 41.8 | 0 | 1.4 | 0 | 3.4 | 0 | 5.6 | – | – | 0 | 3 |
| Total | 131 | 43.5 | 66 | 28.9 | 6 | 3.7 | 14 | 5.7 | 2 | 3.4 | 1 | 0.4 | 25 | 245 |

### Party-list results by city/province

Party list vote results by city/province :
| Region | GNP | UDP | Pro-Park | LFP | DLP | CKP | Other |
| Seoul | 40.2 | 28.3 | 10.4 | 4.8 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 7.8 |
| Busan | 43.5 | 12.7 | 22.6 | 5.2 | 5.3 | 3.8 | 6.9 |
| Daegu | 46.6 | 4.9 | 32.7 | 4.0 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 5.7 |
| Incheon | 39.7 | 24.6 | 10.9 | 6.1 | 5.8 | 4.4 | 8.6 |
| Gwangju | 5.9 | 70.4 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 9.4 | 3.9 | 8.2 |
| Daejeon | 24.8 | 18.6 | 8.7 | 34.3 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 6.1 |
| Ulsan | 42.9 | 9.3 | 18.7 | 3.4 | 14.2 | 3.5 | 8.0 |
| Gyeonggi | 40.9 | 26.4 | 11.4 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 7.3 |
| Gangwon | 45.5 | 18.6 | 12.3 | 6.3 | 5.9 | 3.7 | 7.6 |
| North Chungcheong | 34.0 | 23.9 | 12.3 | 13.7 | 5.7 | 3.4 | 7.0 |
| South Chungcheong | 27.1 | 13.5 | 7.2 | 37.8 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.1 |
| North Jeolla | 9.3 | 64.3 | 2.3 | 1.6 | 7.4 | 2.9 | 12.1 |
| South Jeolla | 6.4 | 66.9 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 10.1 | 2.3 | 11.5 |
| North Gyeongsang | 53.5 | 5.6 | 23.6 | 2.9 | 4.1 | 2.4 | 8.0 |
| South Gyeongsang | 45.0 | 10.5 | 18.0 | 4.2 | 10.6 | 3.4 | 8.2 |
| Jeju | 32.4 | 30.2 | 12.3 | 4.2 | 10.0 | 5.1 | 5.8 |
| Overall total | 37.5 | 25.2 | 13.2 | 6.8 | 5.7 | 3.8 | 7.8 |
| Seat allocation | 22 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 |