S. Korean PM offers to resign after parliamentary elections defeat

SEOUL, April 11 (Xinhua) -- South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo offered to resign following the ruling People Power Party's crushing defeat in parliamentary elections, multiple local media said Thursday citing the presidential office.

All of the senior presidential secretaries, including chief of staff and chief secretary for policy, submitted resignations, except secretaries in the national security office.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said that he will humbly accept the will of people, shown in the parliamentary elections, and will make his best efforts to reform state affairs and stabilize the economy and the people's livelihoods, according to the presidential office.

The quadrennial polls for 300 members of the National Assembly were carried out at 14,259 voting stations across the Asian country on Wednesday to let voters cast ballots for 254 constituency seats and 46 proportional representation slots.

The country's broader liberal bloc, including the main opposition Democratic Party and the minor Rebuilding Korea Party, won more than three-fifths of seats in the parliamentary elections, widely seen as a midterm referendum to evaluate President Yoon's management of state affairs.