GNP takes 11 of 13 by-elections

The opposition Grand National Party scored a crushing victory in Thursday's by-elections to fill 13 vacant National Assembly seats, winning 11 seats to the Millennium Democratic Party's 2.

The GNP thus became the majority party in the Assembly with 139 of its 272 seats. The party will be able to enforce the introduction of parliamentary investigations of corruption and the misuse of pubic funds -- potentially a powerful weapon against the Kim Dae-jung administration.

Discord within the MDP is expected to grow worse as recriminations fly over the election defeat. The party is already divided over the viability of its presidential candidate, Roh Moo-hyun.

GNP candidates won all seven elections in Seoul and Gyeonggi province, the highly contested areas that political observers see as a barometer of sentiment in the presidential election in December. Park Jin won Jongno; Kwon Young-se, Yeongdeungpo; Lee Woo-jae, the Geumcheon district in Seoul; Lee Kyeong-jae, Ganghwa B; Chun Jae-hee, Gwangmyeong; Kim Hwang-sik, Hanam, and Lee Hae-koo, Anseong in Gyeonggi province.

In Busan the GNP's Kim Byung-ho will represent Jin district A, Suh Byung-soo won Gijang A. Kim Jung-boo took the Happo district in Masan, South Gyeongsang province, GNP's traditional support region.

For the MDP, Kim Sang-hyun won the Buk district A in Gwangju, and Kang Bong-kyun took Gunsan in North Jeolla province, the party's traditional support base.

In North Jeju, the Grand Nationals' Yang Jung-kyu narrowly defeated the MDP's Hong Sung-je.

The voter turnout, 29.6 percent, was the lowest in 37 years. National Election Commission workers blamed bad weather and the vacation season. Some political observers also said that earlier polls forecasting a GNP victory in most election districts might have depressed the participation rate.

A GNP spokesman, Nam Kyung-pil, said that the people had passed judgment on the Kim Dae-jung administration. "The current administration resorted to political maneuvering to hide its mismanagement but the wise people were not deceived," Mr. Nam said. He said the party would push for the introduction of an independent counsel and parliamentary hearings to look into corruption and misuse of public funds.

"The party will humbly accept the people's opinion," said the MDP's spokesman, Lee Nak-yon. He said the party would continue its own investigations of alleged corruption by the Grand National presidential candidate, Lee Hoi-chang.

by Lee Sang-il