South Korea Faces Chronic Political Gridlock Good For The North

South Korea Faces Chronic Political Gridlock, Good For The North The ruling party’s surprise defeat in South Korean parliamentary elections will bring political gridlock for at least the next 22 months when a new president takes office. That can’t help a country struggling to reanimate an export-dependent economy famed for the electronics brands LG and Samsung. But the economy will probably muddle through on its own. A bigger threat is the country’s other big-deal issue: its mysterious, ever-angry and possibly well-armed neighbor North Korea. The South's gridlock is the North's gain.