1973 South Korean legislative election

Legislative elections were held in South Korea on 27 February 1973 to elect 146 members of the National Assembly.^[1] Another 73 members appointed by President Park Chung-hee were indirectly elected by the National Conference for Unification on 7 March 1973.^[2]

1973 South Korean legislative election

← 1971 27 February 1973 1978 →
146 of the 219 seats in the National Assembly 110 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	71.36% ( 1.86pp)
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Park Chung-hee Yu Chin-san Yang il-dong Party Democratic Republican New Democratic Democratic Unification Last election 113 seats 89 seats Did not exist Seats won 73 52 3 Seat change 40 37 New Popular vote 4,251,754 3,577,300 1,114,204 Percentage 38.68% 32.55% 10.14% Swing 10.09pp 11.83pp New
Speaker before election None Elected Speaker Chung Il-kwon Democratic Republican

The result was a supermajority victory for the ruling Democratic Republican Party, which won 73 of the 146 elected seats in the National Assembly along with the 73 seats filled by Park's appointees. Voter turnout was 73%.

The election reconstituted the National Assembly after Park had dissolved it in the October Restoration self-coup four months earlier and pushed through a constitutional referendum which removed presidential term limits and gave him the power to appoint one-third of the National Assembly.^[3] The opposition New Democratic Party had also split in 1972 over a leadership dispute between the Yu Chin-san faction and an opposing faction led by Kim Dae-jung and Kim Hong-il.^[4] One month before the election, the latter formed the Democratic Unification Party [ko].^[5][6] However, the DUP performed poorly and split the opposition vote, and in the aftermath the members expressed regret for their decision to run.^[7]

Electoral system

Two-thirds of the seats were elected from two-member constituencies via single non-transferable vote. The remaining one-third of the seats were presidential appointees, nominated by president Park and confirmed by the National Conference for Unification elected in 1972.

Results

2 52 73 19 73
Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Democratic Republican Party	4,251,754	38.68	73	–40
	New Democratic Party	3,577,300	32.55	52	–37
	Democratic Unification Party	1,114,204	10.14	2	New
	Independents	2,048,178	18.63	19	New
Presidential appointees				73	New
Total		10,991,436	100.00	219	+15
Valid votes		10,991,436	98.17
Invalid/blank votes		205,048	1.83
Total votes		11,196,484	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		15,690,130	71.36
Source: Nohlen et al.

By city/province

Region	Total seats	Seats won
		DRP	NDP	DUP	Ind.
Seoul	16	7	8	0	1
Busan	8	4	4	0	0
Gyeonggi	16	9	6	0	1
Gangwon	10	5	3	0	2
North Chungcheong	8	5	2	0	1
South Chungcheong	14	6	6	0	2
North Jeolla	12	4	4	0	4
South Jeolla	20	10	6	2	2
North Gyeongsang	22	12	5	0	5
South Gyeongsang	18	10	8	0	0
Jeju	2	1	0	0	1
Total	146	73	52	2	19

Presidential appointees

On 7 March 1973, the National Conference for Unification indirectly elected 73 members of the National Assembly appointed by President Park Chung-hee. The number of delegates present was 2,354, with 2,251 delegates approving the election of Park's appointees.^[2]

Party		Votes	%	Seats
Presidential appointees		2,251	96.49	73
Against		82	3.51	–
Total		2,333	100.00	73
Valid votes		2,333	99.11
Invalid/blank votes		21	0.89
Total votes		2,354	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		2,359	99.79
Source: Naver News Library[2]

By city/province

Region	Votes			Delegates
	For	Against	Invalid	Voted	Absent	Total
Seoul	299	2	0	301	2	303
Busan	95	7	1	103	1	104
Gyeonggi	274	4	2	280	0	280
Gangwon	135	10	0	145	0	145
North Chungcheong	125	2	0	127	0	127
South Chungcheong	226	5	0	231	0	231
North Jeolla	187	10	3	200	0	200
South Jeolla	297	11	3	311	1	312
North Gyeongsang	335	13	5	353	1	354
South Gyeongsang	253	18	7	278	0	278
Jeju	25	0	0	25	0	25
Total	2,251	82	21	2,354	5	2,359
Source: Naver News Library[2]