President Park Geun-hye got a striking political setback as South Koreans denied her conservative party a majority in the recently completed National Assembly election.

The rising jobless rate, falling exports and weak consumer sentiment have clouded the outlook for South Korean's economy.  The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered its forecast for the country's 2016 economic growth to 2.7 percent from 3.2 percent, citing sluggish Chinese demand for the nation's exports.

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Kim Moo Sung, chairman of Park's Saenuri political party, has resigned from his position after the big setback for the ruling party on April 13 election.

Experts feel that in her final year in the presidential office, Park's failure to drive her party to power in the country will undermine her possibility to push economic reform and other business agenda.

After all the ballots are counted, the Saenuri Party is expected to win 122 seats. Park's party at present has 146 representatives in the 300-seat National Assembly, South Korea's unicameral legislature.

Park's hard-line position on North Korea did not attract voters so much, while a tumbling economy may have weighed more heavily on their minds. The country's youth unemployment situation hit a record low in February this year and exports have decreased for 15 successive months.

The outcome, which came as a surprise to many, will likely threaten Park's plans to push ahead with controversial economic reforms, including plans to make it easier for companies to lay off workers. 

The emergence of a new center-left party also ensures further changes to South Korea's political landscape, which has long been shaped by two-party dynamics.

TagsSouth Korea, Park Geun Hye, Parliamentary Election, North Korea