President Lee Jae Myung urged lawmakers to pass a partial constitutional revision bill aimed at curbing martial law powers and enshrining the spirit of democratic movements, saying there was “no reason to oppose” it.
Lee reiterated the need to gradually amend the Constitution — which, if approved, would mark the first revision since 1987 — during a weekly Cabinet meeting Wednesday, a day before the Assembly is scheduled to vote on the bill.
The bill, proposed by six parties including the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and signed by 187 lawmakers, must pass the Assembly before a referendum can be held alongside the June 3 local elections.
However, the bill cannot pass without support from lawmakers in the main opposition People Power Party, which formally opposes holding the referendum on June 3.
“Tomorrow, a vote will be held on a constitutional amendment bill that there is no reason to oppose,” Lee said.
“This is an opportunity that has come after a long time, and I hope that tomorrow we will put into action these obvious measures that all citizens support and that the entire political sphere has spoken about in one voice until now.”
Lee specifically pointed to the proposed amendment, which would strengthen the National Assembly’s oversight of the presidential power to declare martial law.
“Who among the public would oppose preventing illegal martial law from ever happening again or strengthening the National Assembly’s control over it?” Lee said, referring to ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law declaration on Dec. 3, 2024.
“There may be a few people who oppose it. But wouldn’t those people have to be seen as advocates of illegal martial law?”
Lee underscored that “this is why I find it hard to imagine who would oppose putting reasonable controls over emergency martial law into the Constitution.”
The constitutional revision stipulates that martial law would immediately lose effect if the Assembly rejects approval or if approval is not granted within 48 hours of its declaration. The current Constitution only states that the president must end martial law if a majority of Assembly members vote to request it.
Lee also pointed out that there was no reason to oppose the proposed amendment, which would update the Constitution’s preamble to include the spirit of both the May 18 Gwangju Democratic Movement and the 1979 Busan-Masan Democratic Movement.
“Who would oppose that?” Lee said. “And now we have an actual opportunity to put it into the constitutional text. Why oppose that? It makes no sense.”
Lee further underscored the legitimacy of the amendment, which further stipulates that the state has a duty to narrow regional disparities and promote balanced national development. “Strengthening local autonomy is something all citizens agree on,” Lee said.
Lee called for a phased approach to constitutional revision without delays, acknowledging that a “full-scale constitutional revision would be too burdensome.”
“Reaching an agreement would not be easy because political interests diverge. ... It is difficult to fully safeguard the current level of democracy in the Republic of Korea, the lives of our people, and the future of the nation with the current Constitution," Lee added, referring to South Korea by its official name.
Lee underscored the need to approach constitutional revision with a “practical attitude: doing what we can, to the extent that we can.”
“The realistic approach is to move forward with partial constitutional revisions step by step, to the extent that agreement can be reached,” Lee said.
Given the current makeup of the Assembly, the bill — which requires support from at least two-thirds of all sitting lawmakers — would not pass without additional votes from the People Power Party.
The current number of sitting members in the National Assembly stands at 286, with nine lawmakers, eight from the Democratic Party and one from the People Power Party, having resigned to run in the local elections.
To pass the constitutional revision bill in a plenary session, approval from two-thirds of all incumbent lawmakers, or 191 votes, is required.
At least 12 lawmakers from the People Power Party’s 106-member bloc would still need to break ranks for the bill to pass, even if all other lawmakers, excluding independent Rep. Kang Sun-woo, who is in custody, vote in favor.
dagyumji@heraldcorp.com
