President Lee should declare he will forgo a constitutional amendment for consecutive terms - 경향신문
This article was translated by an AI tool. Feedback Here.
Every Speaker of the National Assembly has talked about constitutional revision, but former Speaker Woo Won-shik in particular sounded sincere. There are many parts of the 39-year-old, outdated Constitution that need work, but an amendment bill was drawn up with only the minimum contents on which both ruling and opposition parties agreed, such as enshrining the spirit of 5·18 in the preamble and tightening the conditions for martial law. A phased amendment was a realistic choice. The amendment bill could even have been put to a national referendum alongside the June 3 local elections. However, it failed. The People Power Party, which holds a blocking line on constitutional change, opposed it as a party line, and the amendment bill was not even placed on the plenary agenda.
The People Power Party judged that if the amendment went to a referendum during the local elections, it would be disadvantageous for the party. Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk in April told President Lee Jae Myung to declare that he would not seek consecutive terms, but because the president did not answer clearly, they slapped on a frame that it was a constitutional amendment for Lee to serve consecutive terms and amplified a conspiracy theory. Given that the draft contained no restructuring of the power system, it came across as foolish talk. Moreover, Article 128(2) of the Constitution states, ‘A constitutional amendment to extend the presidential term shall have no effect on the incumbent president’. This is a constitutional safeguard to block attempts at self-perpetuation of power. Jang thus chose the wrong target in tilting at something that is not even possible.
Yet figures in the ruling camp are fanning a debate on a consecutive term for President Lee that most citizens had not even considered. Jo Won-cheol, a ‘Daejang-dong lawyer’-turned head of the Ministry of Government Legislation, said last October that whether a four-year two-term system could apply to the sitting president is “a matter for the people to decide,” shaking the political world. On the 28th, National Assembly Speaker Jo Jeong-sik, who had served as a presidential special political adviser, said a consecutive term for the sitting president is “a matter for the people to choose.” He belatedly added, “A consecutive term for the incumbent president is not a subject for constitutional debate,” but if a six-term lawmaker who is Speaker of the National Assembly did not understand the weight of his words, that is an even bigger problem. It is hard to avoid the interpretation that this revealed President Lee’s intent or the inner thinking of the power center, or that it was an attempt to test public reaction. Even if they invoke “the choice of the people,” any attempt at prolonging rule would face fierce civic resistance. It is obvious that the governing momentum of the Lee Jae Myung administration would be sharply blunted.
The Constitution should change with the times and circumstances. The system of government should also be changed to remedy the ills of an imperial presidency. One option is a four-year two-term presidency. Constitutional amendment, in and of itself, is a highly deliberative process that must transcend camps and factions, but deciding on the method of attaining power requires a political agreement among the president, the leaders of the ruling and opposition parties, and the next presidential contenders. The 1987 amendment that created a five-year single-term, direct presidential election was possible because Chun Doo-hwan, Roh Tae-woo, Kim Dae-jung, Kim Young-sam, and Kim Jong-pil agreed.
A constitutional amendment cannot be undertaken at just any time. Amendments pushed in the latter halves of past presidencies have repeatedly run aground. With no nationwide election next year, that year is likely to be the last line for amendment under the Lee Jae Myung government.
Amending the Constitution is No. 1 among the 123 policy tasks of the Lee Jae Myung government. That likely reflects the president’s strong will. Two-thirds of the public also support constitutional revision. Just as the 1987 citizens’ uprising bore fruit in a direct-election amendment, the Revolution of Light that overcame the Yoon Suk-yeol insurrection should be completed by changing the Constitution so that no one can ever again even contemplate illegal martial law.
However, constitutional amendment frankly looks bleak even in the latter half of the 22nd National Assembly. The parties are locked in such extreme confrontation that it is hard even to sit down together. With the People Power Party mired in internal strife due to a leadership crisis fixated on a fraudulent election, no one knows when it will return to normal. Even forming the National Assembly’s special committee on constitutional amendment, the starting point for debate, will not be smooth. To amend the Constitution, a breakthrough is needed.
The president must step up. Relayed remarks in the form of comments by Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik of the Office of the President are not enough. Before the presidential election, President Lee said, “Under the Constitution, a revision does not apply to the sitting president,” but he has not said so since becoming president. At an appropriate opportunity, he must state directly and clearly, ‘no consecutive term’. There is no reason to hand the People Power Party a pretext for an ‘anti-amendment’ stance.
The president’s political imagination regarding amendment must not be an extension of rule through consecutive terms. Simply, during his term, crossing the threshold for amendment in line with the public’s aspirations and laying out a centennial blueprint for the Republic of Korea would remain a political achievement in itself. To keep the momentum for amendment alive, the president’s role is weighty.
