There are likely to be changes in Seoul’s policy toward North Korea as the conservative Saenuri Party fell behind the opposition Minjoo Party in Wednesday’s general election, while the centrist People’s Party is now in a position to break ties.

The Minjoo Party will hold 123 seats in the National Assembly, while the Saenuri Party slumped to 122, creating an opposition majority legislature for the first time in 16 years. Surveys had previously expected 170 seats for Saenuri and less than 100 for Minjoo.

Seoul-based political pundit Choi Yong-il indicated that North Korea was one of the primary factors resulted