Ruling Democratic Party of Korea sweeps 11 seats out of 12 in by-elections

And it was a similar success story for the ruling party in the by-elections that were also held on Wednesday.The Democratic Party of Korea added eleven seats in the National Assembly,... strengthening its position as the biggest party in parliament.Kim Mok-yeon has the details. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea claimed an overwhelming victory in Wednesday's elections, sweeping a total of 11 seats out of the 12 up for grabs in the National Assembly. This means the party succeeded in winning all of the 11 seats it put up a candidate for, excluding the city of Gimcheon, which went to the main opposition Liberty Korea Party. The ruling party retains its position as the largest party with a total of 130 lawmakers, widening its previous six seat gap to a whopping 17 seat difference with the main opposition party. Now that the local and by-elections are finally over, the National Assembly is set to go back to business.But despite the ruling party's landslide victory, the dispute-prone atmosphere in the National Assembly is unlikely to change, as the combined seats of the opposition parties still gives them the majority, and the agreement of the majority is required to pass a bill. In the coming weeks, a long row is expected among rival parties as they now have to face one of the most important tasks given to parliament, the election of its leaders, especially the speaker and the members of standing committees. The ruling party says the current custom of selecting the speaker from the largest single party should be kept, but the opposition claims there's no such rule. Kim Mok-yeon, Arirang News.