1996 South Korean legislative election

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All 299 seats in the National Assembly 150 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	63.91% ( 7.95pp)
Majority party Minority party   Leader Kim Young-sam Kim Dae-jung Party New Korea National Congress Last election 149 seats[a] Did not exist Seats won 139 79 Seat change 10 New Popular vote 6,783,730 4,971,961 Percentage 34.52% 25.30% Swing 3.97pp New   Third party Fourth party   Leader Kim Jong-pil Park Il Chang Eul-byung Party United Liberal Democrats United Democratic Last election 32 seats[b] 97 seats[c] Seats won 50 15 Seat change 18 82 Popular vote 3,178,474 2,207,695 Percentage 16.17% 11.23% Swing 2.99pp 17.94pp
Speaker before election Hwang Nak-joo New Korea Elected Speaker Kim Soo-han New Korea

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Legislative elections were held in South Korea on 12 April 1996.^[1] The result was a victory for the New Korea Party, which won 139 of the 299 seats in the National Assembly. Voter turnout was 63.9%. Although the New Korea Party remained the largest party in the National Assembly, it failed to win the majority.

Of the 299 seats, 253 were elected in single-member districts via first-past-the-post voting, while the remainder were allocated via proportional representation at the national level. Proportional seats were only available to parties which won three percent of the national valid vote among seat-allocated parties and/or won five or more constituency seats.

The governing New Korea Party (formerly the Democratic Liberal Party) of President Kim Young-sam, lost its absolute parliamentary majority. The election was held three years into President Kim's five year mandate.

The opposition National Congress for New Politics was formed by veteran opposition leader Kim Dae-jung and his supporters in the Democratic Party. Kim had retired from politics following his loss in the 1992 Presidential election but formed the new party after his return in 1995.

The right-wing United Liberal Democrats was led by former Prime Minister of South Korea Kim Jong-pil, a former ally of President Kim. He had been a member of the former ruling Democratic Liberal Party but broke with it after Kim's victory in 1992. It joined with Kim Dae Jung's opposition and formed coalition.

The United Democratic Party had once been the premier opposition party. It supported Kim Dae-jung's unsuccessful Presidential campaign in 1992 and was the largest opposition party in the outgoing National Assembly. However, following the defection of Kim and his supporters, the party was reduced to a minor force. It later merged to Kim Young-sam's party.

• 1996 elections in South Korea Inter-Parliamentary Union