A series of high-ranking Korean officials announced their resignation after the election.

Leaders of the center-left People's Party announced their resignations on May 10 following the defeat of their representative, Ahn Cheol-soo, in the South Korean presidential election.

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn also submitted his resignation, but President Moon Jae-in did not accept it. (Source: Yonhap)

Lawmaker Park Jie-won, leader of the opposition People's Party, said the resignation statements were made during the dissolution of the party's election campaign office.

Candidate Ahn Cheol-soo emerged as a potential rival in the South Korean presidential election, but in the end he only came in third with 21.41% of the votes.

"I take responsibility for this result and would like to resign," Mr. Park said, adding that he also asked other party leaders to resign and join another party.

Mr. Park also sent congratulations to President-elect Moon Jae-in and thanked the Korean people for choosing a new government after 10 years under conservative party leadership.

Meanwhile, presidential spokesman Kim Kyoung-soo recently said that Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn and several senior officials in the previous government also submitted their resignations, but President Moon Jae-in did not accept them and said that a series of related issues needed to be considered before making a final decision, in the context that the Cabinet's decision may be needed on important issues of the new government.

According to a VNA correspondent in South Korea, the new South Korean President Moon Jae-in pledged to establish cooperative relations with opposition parties immediately after his election. The pledge was made in separate meetings with political party leaders after the recent presidential election with many deep political divisions.

At a meeting with the leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, Mr. Moon said he would leave behind his campaign disagreements and expressed hope that the conservative party would help his administration address issues related to inter-Korean relations, national security and the alliance with the United States.

During a meeting with the leader of the center-left People's Party, Mr. Moon also called for special cooperation with his liberal Democratic Party.

In addition, the new South Korean President also met with leaders of the conservative Bareun Party and the progressive Justice Party.

Mr. Moon's Democratic Party currently holds 120 seats, not enough for a majority of the 299 seats in the National Assembly./.

According to Vietnamplus