An Expert Analysis of South Korea's Legislative Election

The months leading up to South Korea's April 10 legislative election have been riddled with tension. Both the ruling People's Power Party (PPP), the party of President Yoon Suk-yeol, and the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DP) are facing internal feuds, a narrowing gap in approval ratings and investigations into lawmakers' personal scandals. The rampant polarization has even inspired politically motivated violence, including the nonfatal stabbing of opposition leader Lee Jae-myung and attack on ruling party lawmaker Bae Hyun-jin.
Following the election, the National Committee on North Korea convened experts Duyeon Kim (Center for a New American Security), Andrew Yeo (Brookings Institution and Catholic University of America) and Scott Snyder (Korea Economic Institute of America), who discussed the implications of this contentious race.