Han Myeong-sook, the leader of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP), said Friday she will step down over her party’s defeat in this week’s general elections.

“I will take responsibility for the defeat in the general elections and step down as leader of the party,” she said during a press conference at DUP headquarters in Seoul.

“Although I am resigning from the leadership post, I will give my all as a member of the party for a change in government this year,” she added, referring to the presidential elections in December.

The DUP, once forecast to win an easy victory, won only 127 of the total 300 seats up for grabs in Wednesday’s parliamentary elections, giving the ruling Saenuri Party an outright majority of 152 seats.

The party chipped away at its lead by fumbling the selection of its election candidates and then mishandling revelations that one of its candidates uttered inflammatory sexist and derogatory slurs in the past, which critics said proved he was unfit to be a national legislator. (Yonhap News)