The landslide defeat of the ruling party in South Korea's general election on Wednesday is not only a blow to the leadership of President Park Geun-hye, it may also derail progress on settling the "comfort women" issue, experts said Thursday.
Moreover, they said, it throws a spanner in the works as Tokyo and Seoul step up cooperation over North Korea.
The conservative Saenuri Party became the first ruling party to lose a majority in the 300-seat National Assembly in 16 years. The divided assembly will leave Park's government a lame-duck administration, despite mounting international problems that South Korea's first female president needs to embrace before her term ends in early 2018.