THE conservative party of South Korea’s new president won a majority in a parliamentary election yesterday, according to TV projections, giving him the political muscle to push through reforms of Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

Lee Myung-bak’s Grand National Party (GNP) was projected to win between 155 to 178 of the 299 seats in the parliament, according to projections by the KBS and MBC TV networks. Two other TV projections gave the party a similar majority.

If the official results, not expected for several hours, confirm the projections, it would be the first outright win by the conservatives in a parliamentary election in more than 20 years.

Lee, who took office in February, has pledged to boost economic growth this year to 6 percent from 5 percent last year, cut red tape stifling business and make the economy more open and competitive.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has turned up the heat ahead of the race. On the eve of the election it branded Lee a traitor, saying his demands for the impoverished state to change its ways were pushing the Korean peninsula back to war.

But voters, accustomed to years of anti-South rhetoric, appeared to ignore the latest barbs from its irritable neighbor in a campaign that has been largely devoid of debate on any serious issue.

The National Election Commission said the turnout was expected to mark a record low.

To lure voters to the polling booths, the commission has been running an advertising campaign featuring a popular song-and-dance group of teenage girls and offering discounts to museums and parks.

But the once-predicted victory of two-thirds of the parliamentary seats, enough to change the constitution, now looks impossible. Lee has seen his initial high support slip as his government stumbled out of the blocks and bungled personnel appointments.

The damage from a global downturn began to look far more serious for South Korea just as he took office, with some analysts calling his economic growth target far too optimistic.

Some analysts said GNP infighting in the run-up to the election could make the party, even with a majority in the new National Assembly from late May, tricky for Lee to manage to ensure his policy changes were turned into law.

(SD-Agencies)