The ruling party in South Korea clinched a landslide victory in the general elections held amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to unofficial results on Thursday.

With nearly all votes for the directly contested seats counted, the country’s election commission said the ruling Democratic Party and its satellite Platform Party secured 180 seats, three-fifths of the total, said Yonhap news agency.

South Korea held the quadrennial elections on Wednesday to fill the 300-member unicameral National Assembly — with 253 directly contested seats and 47 proportional representation slots.

The main opposition United Future Party and its sister party won 103 posts.

This is the first time in 16 years that the ruling party succeeded in winning a majority of parliamentary seats. It also marks the biggest majority a party has claimed since the country adopted the direct presidential election system in 1987.

The victory is expected to provide fresh momentum to President Moon Jae-in’s policy drive during his remaining tenure.

As one of the world’s first nationwide elections held amid the coronavirus pandemic, the ballot was widely seen as a referendum on Moon, who has two more years in office and has been facing several challenges — from an economic slowdown to chilled inter-Korean relations and most recently, the virus pandemic.

This win is set to give him an upper hand in pushing ahead with his agenda as the country faces a virus pandemic and economic slowdown.

Despite concerns that the pandemic would dampen voting, tens of millions braved the virus to cast their ballots. More than 29 million were estimated to have voted, leading to a tentative voter turnout of 66.2 percent, the highest in 28 years.