Constitutional amendment can be proposed by a majority of National Assembly members or the president.” – Paragraph 1, Article 128 of the Constitution

After 3 1/2 years in the Blue House, what can President Park Geun-hye present as her major achievements? Or, what would the people readily cite as the meritorious deeds of the president to date?

These questions may be premature, as the president still has 18 more months to finish her five-year tenure. Important policies hardly bear fruit in just two or three years and correct judgment can often be made only after the president has left office, so let us not be so hasty to take score for the incumbent head of state.

Yet, the republic’s contemporary history shows that noteworthy actions in each administration were recorded during the earlier parts of respective presidencies, with the latter periods usually mired in scandals involving their family members or close associates. Lame ducks never failed to materialize in the lawns of the Blue House.

President Park had the nightmare of the Sewol incident in the second year of her rule, and then the Middle-East respiratory syndrome scare last year stole much public attention from her endeavors to revive the national economy with reforms in the areas of labor, public sector, education and finance. Her signature “creative economy” programs have yet to produce concrete results.

A year after the halfway point, people recount with some sarcasm that the most remarkable decision President Park has made so far was her closure of the Gaeseong Industrial Park to spur international sanctions against North Korea for its missile and nuclear provocations. More seriously, people talk about the “settlement” of the World War II sex slavery issue with Tokyo last year, though many are dissatisfied with that.

Quite laudably, President Park has so far managed to keep her immediate relatives and aides from causing corruption scandals. Instead, she is heavily blamed for the ever-aggravating factional disputes within her own Saenuri Party. The suicidal dogfight between pro-Park and anti-Park factions eventually led to humiliation in the April general election.

The Saenuri Party shrunk from 154 seats to 122 in a vote against a divided opposition, which shared 123 and 38 seats between The Minjoo Party of Korea and the People’s Party. If the 12 independents return to their preelection home of the Saenuri Party, the ruling party still cannot make any legislation without the consent of one of the two major opposition parties.

How, then, can President Park rise from this second-half curse? There is one way of doing that in my humble opinion. It is to take the initiative in rewriting the Constitution. And there is a good chance of success if she conducts the process with fairness and sincerity.

At the moment, leaders of all major political groups are in favor of a constitutional amendment to change the republic’s governing structure to something other than the present single-term presidency of five years. They generally agree that it has caused critical political maladies, including an early lame-duck phenomenon, administrative inconsistency and rifts between the president and the ruling party.

New National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun declared his devotion to the task of changing the basic law in his inaugural address and first press conference. Over 80 percent of the members of the 20th National Assembly are in favor of a constitutional amendment, according to pollsters who also found nearly 70 percent of the general public hoping for a shift from the current governing framework.

The present Constitution, the product of the 1987 pro-democracy movement, accomplished its mission of peaceful transition from dictatorship to stable successions of power for the past three decades. But the ban on presidential reelection aimed to prevent prolongation of power has hindered steadfast pursuit of state policies due to the inevitable interruptions happening every five years. There was little difference whether power was conveyed vertically or horizontally.

Alternatives studied by politicians, academics and the media were narrowed to the parliamentary cabinet system, the dual executive system and a return to the American-style four-year presidency with reelection allowed just once.

The lackluster economy is of course the chief factor for President Park’s low approval rates hovering under the 40 percent mark. But, also significant to her detriment is the public understanding, or misunderstanding, that she tries to keep her loyalists in the position of hegemony within the ruling party to ensure the continuation of her political influence even after she left the Blue House.

Park has so far ignored the amendment arguments that she has warned would be a “black hole” for her economic revival efforts. Her aloofness toward the issue, however, has not prevented sensitive analysts from speculating on her real mind. They point to Park’s notable support of Rep. Chung Jong-sup, a constitutional law scholar who was elected from the president’s former constituency in Daegu.

Chung has vigorously advocated changing the Constitution to the dual executive system, also known as the semipresidential system, to separate power such that the president is in charge of national security and diplomacy, while the prime minister takes care of economy and domestic affairs. Already, speculators find this formula best suited for Ban Ki-moon, the soon-to-retire U.N. secretary-general now being counted as a likely recruit for the Saenuri Party’s presidential candidate.

Soon, the intraparty contenders at Saenuri will start a nomination race, though the electorate sees no eminent leadership figure among them. The president should of course take a neutral stance in the selection process, and the best way she can convince partisans and nonpartisans of her neutrality will be to engage herself in the business of constitutional amendment as true arbitrator of conflicting political interests.

The Blue House may first establish an amendment schedule through consultations with political groups and then form a blue-ribbon commission that will find the best system applicable to Korea’s reality in the 21st century. The president can help the panel’s job by ensuring no attempt at political interference and arranging reliable and accurate opinion surveys by qualified pollsters.

If and when she finally submits an amendment bill to the National Assembly in fulfillment of her constitutional assignment, President Park will be making a great contribution to the democratic development of the republic. As they make a final decision, the people will appreciate the president for her last service to the nation.

Kim Myong-sik is a former editorial writer for The Korea Herald. – Ed.