Business-as-usual was the vibe of President Park Geun-hye on Friday as she made her first public appearance since the ruling Saenuri Party suffered a crippling election defeat two days before.

Wearing a mustard-colored suit and a smile, Park held summit talks with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, during which they agreed to strengthen cooperation in building eco-friendly ships and offshore plants.

Throughout the event, Park made little or no hint of her reaction to what is perceived as one of the biggest blows in her 18-years in politics and three years in the presidential office.

The ruling Saenuri Party lost the majority and No. 1 party status in the incoming 20th parliamentary in Wednesday’s election, losing out to the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea by one seat after losing most of the metropolitan seats.

Park had expressed her support for the party, such as by wearing red, the official color of the Saenuri Party, while casting her vote and making a number of regional visits ahead of the election.

Local media and observers alike dubbed the latest election as a judgement of Park’s administration, which was generally criticized for being centralistic and authoritative.

Sources said Park is most likely to officially relay her message regarding politics during a meeting of senior secretaries on Monday. The president is most likely to emphasize the need to charge through with her four major reforms in the labor, public, education and finance sectors regardless of the election results and ask for pan-partisan legislative support.

“There is no specific plan on (her) message related to the election. Improving the fundamentals of the (country’s economy) through structural reform and creating jobs remain the prioritized administrative task,” a Cheong Wa Dae official said on customary condition of anonymity.

The ruling camp now needs closer cooperation and comprise with the opposition that has seized the majority status in passing through deadlocked bills. The party had attempted to revise a National Assembly law that restricted legislative authority of the majority party in the outgoing Assembly. The Saenuri Party is now placed in the opposite position with regard to the envisioned revision, as the party would require wider leeway against the majority forces in endorsing their initiatives.

Park’s approval ratings, meanwhile, dropped to 39 percent in the second week of April, according to pollster Gallup Korea. The ratings had recovered to above 40 percent after her U.S. and Mexico tours in the first week.

Respondents critical of Park, on the other hand, surged by 2 percentage points to 48 percent.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)