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S.Korea’s Lee gets boost from by-election results

South Korea’s conservative ruling party swept

South Korea’s conservative ruling party swept to victory Wednesday in parliamentary by-elections, giving President Lee Myung-Bak, seen here in June 2010, a major political boost midway through his five-year term.

(AFP/Elmer Martinez)

SEOUL (AFP) – South Korea’s conservative ruling party swept to victory on Wednesday in parliamentary by-elections, giving President Lee Myung-Bak a major political boost midway through his five-year term.

The Grand National Party (GNP) took five of the eight seats up for grabs, the National Election Commission said, recovering strongly from a major defeat in last month’s nationwide local elections.

Two candidates close to Lee were among the winners — adviser Lee Jae-Oh and former chief presidential policy secretary Yoon Jin-Shik.

The GNP also won three seats elsewhere while the main left-leaning opposition Democratic Party (DP) took two. Vote-counting was still under way in one seat.

The ruling party previously held only one of the seats being contested on Wednesday.

The by-elections had little effect on the balance of power in parliament, where the GNP previously held 176 of the 299 seats.

But the vote was seen as a fresh test for Lee, whose party suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the DP in June’s local polls.

Lee sustained a further blow the same month when parliament rejected a bill which would have scrapped his predecessor’s plan to relocate many government ministries and agencies to a new city.

Another disappointing performance Wednesday could have weakened Lee’s authority and undermined support for his projects such as a costly river refurbishment scheme.

The government last November launched the 19-billion-dollar project to dredge, dam and restore the country’s four major rivers despite protests over the environmental impact.

Lee says it will ensure a stable supply of clean water and help prevent floods, but opposition parties, environmentalists and some religious groups say it could cause an ecological disaster.

Lee’s five-year term ends in early 2013 and the constitution bars presidents from serving a second term.