By Anthony Faiola
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, April 16, 2004; Page A14

SEOUL, April 15 -- In their sharpest shift to the political left in four decades, South Korean voters on Thursday appeared to hand an overwhelming victory in legislative elections to the Uri Party, whose leadership advocates rapprochement with North Korea and greater independence from Seoul's traditional ally, the United States.

In a battle that pitted liberal voters in their 20s and 30s against the conservative older generations, a "revolution of the young" was set to transform the now-small Uri Party -- allied with impeached President Roh Moon Hyun -- into the nation's largest political force.

According to South Korean media projections based on ballot counting, the Uri Party was poised to more than triple its representation in the 299-seat National Assembly to at least 150 seats, taking majority control away from the establishment-dominated Grand National Party, which won an estimated 103 seats. It would mark South Korea's first freely elected, liberal-dominated legislature since the 1961 coup that brought this nation's long time military dictator, Park Chung Hee, to power.

The Grand National Party conceded defeat Thursday night.

Today's elections were largely seen as a referendum on the surprise impeachment of Roh last month -- an act applauded by South Koreans who still harbor memories of the Korean War, but seen by younger voters, who make up almost half the electorate, as a political coup against Roh's more liberal approach on North Korea, the U.S.- South Korean alliance and economic policy.

The Grand National Party had impeached Roh for committing an electoral infraction and allegedly being unfit to rule following a series of corruption scandals that brought down his top aides. But prosecutors have actually implicated the GNP in far broader cases of corruption, which have severely undermined the party's reputation.

While the Uri Party has been targeted in corruption probes, Roh has also been seen by many analysts to be stepping out of the way of prosecutors, granting them a new measure of autonomy to pursue political transparency and break the traditional ties between politicians and large South Korean business conglomerates.

Many South Koreans saw Roh's impeachment as political hypocrisy, and it generated a sharp backlash, which favored the Uri party . Almost 3 in every 4 South Koreans opposed Roh's removal from office.

"I think the Uri party was the best choice given the situation," said Bang Joon Shik, a 35 year old Seoul office worker. "I was infuriated when the GNP impeached the president. How can they do that to a president that was voted into office by the people? I gave my votes to Uri Party thinking this will judge the old GNP politicians."

Analysts say that a landslide for the Uri Party will likely put added pressure South Korea's Constitutional Court to overturn the impeachment and restore the now-suspended president to power, perhaps as early as next month.

"The people saved democracy," said Chung Dong Young, a Uri Party leader. "The people saved the president."

Today's vote marked the Grand National Party's worst legislative defeat. The party is now headed by Park Geun Hye, 52, daughter of Park Chung Hee who built the tight relationship between Washington and Seoul following the Korean War. U.S. relations with Seoul -- considered a vital ally of Washington -- have already become somewhat strained since Roh took office last year, with Roh's government pressing the Bush administration to adopt a more flexible approach on North Korea's nuclear weapons programs.

Vice President Cheney arrived in Seoul today on the last stop of his Asian tour.

Special Correspondent Joohee Cho contributed to this report.