# 1985 South Korean legislative election

Legislative elections were held in South Korea on 12 February 1985. The result was a victory for the Democratic Justice Party, which won 148 of the 276 seats in the National Assembly. Voter turnout was 84.6%.

## Electoral system

Of the 276 seats, 184 were elected in two-member constituencies via single non-transferable vote, while the remainder were allocated via proportional representation at the national level among parties that won five or more seats in constituencies. Two-thirds of those seats would be awarded to the top party (which was then eliminated from further consideration for national seats), with the remainder allocated based on vote share.

## Political parties

| Parties | Parties | Leader | Ideology | Seats | Seats | Status |
| Parties | Parties | Leader | Ideology | Last election | Before election | Status |
| | Democratic Justice Party | Chun Doo-hwan | Conservatism | 151 / 276 | 149 / 276 | Government |
| | Democratic Korea Party | Yu Chi-song | Liberalism | 81 / 276 | 59 / 276 | Opposition |
| | New Korean Democratic Party | Lee Min-woo | Liberalism | Did not exist | 32 / 276 | Opposition |
| | Korean National Party | Kim Jong-cheol | Conservatism | 25 / 276 | 24 / 276 | Opposition |
| | New Socialist Party | | | 2 / 276 | 1 / 276 | Opposition |
| | New Socialist Party | | | 2 / 276 | 1 / 276 | Opposition |
| | Civil Rights Party | | | 2 / 276 | 0 / 276 | Opposition |
| | Democratic Farmer's Party | | | 1 / 276 | Dissolved | Opposition |
| | Liberal National Party | | | 1 / 276 | 0 / 276 | Opposition |
The ruling Democratic Justice Party (DJP) of President Chun Doo-hwan managed to remain the largest party in the National Assembly but faced a tougher challenge from the united opposition.
The New Korean Democratic Party (NKDP) was formed by former members of the New Democratic Party, notably opposition leaders Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam despite being still barred from running. The party made strong gains across the country, largely thanks to its focus on greater democratic rights.
The Korean National Party had been formed by former members of the Democratic Republican Party in the run-up to the 1981 elections. After making some key gains, the party lost ground in these elections, largely thanks to the gains of the NKDP.
The opposition Democratic Korea Party had been the premier opposition party following the 1981 elections, but it suffered major defections to the NKDP.

## Results

113567201484 :
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | Seats | Seats | Seats |
| Party | Party | Votes | % | FPTP | PR | Total | +/– |
| | Democratic Justice Party | 7,040,811 | 35.25 | 87 | 61 | 148 | –3 |
| | New Korean Democratic Party | 5,843,827 | 29.26 | 50 | 17 | 67 | New |
| | Democratic Korea Party | 3,930,966 | 19.68 | 26 | 9 | 35 | –46 |
| | Korean National Party | 1,828,744 | 9.16 | 15 | 5 | 20 | –5 |
| | New Socialist Party | 288,863 | 1.45 | 1 | 0 | 1 | New |
| | Workers and Farmers Party | 185,859 | 0.93 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | New Democratic Party | 112,654 | 0.56 | 1 | 0 | 1 | New |
| | Civil Rights Party | 75,634 | 0.38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –2 |
| | National Group Party | 17,257 | 0.09 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Independents | 650,028 | 3.25 | 4 | 0 | 4 | –7 |
| Total | Total | 19,974,643 | 100.00 | 184 | 92 | 276 | 0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 19,974,643 | 98.46 | | | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 312,029 | 1.54 | | | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 20,286,672 | 100.00 | | | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 23,987,830 | 84.57 | | | | |
| Source: Nohlen et al. ||||||||

### By city/province

| Region | Total seats | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won |
| Region | Total seats | DJP | NKDP | DKP | KNP | NSP | NDP | Ind. |
| Seoul | 28 | 13 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Busan | 12 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Daegu | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Incheon | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gyeonggi | 20 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gangwon | 12 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| North Chungcheong | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South Chungcheong | 16 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| North Jeolla | 14 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| South Jeolla | 22 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| North Gyeongsang | 20 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| South Gyeongsang | 20 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jeju | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Constituency total | 184 | 87 | 50 | 26 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| PR list | 92 | 61 | 17 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 276 | 148 | 67 | 35 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 4 |