By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter

Approximately a third of legislators have joined the drive to revise the Constitution so far, particularly in the area of the presidential system which has remained intact since 1987.

Despite the widely shared agreement on the need for fundamental change in the power structure, no agreement has been made about how the law should be modified.

According to a parliamentary group, dubbed ``Lawmakers Concerned With the Constitution," the number of its members has increased to 99 out of 299 National Assemblymen since it was created on June 12.

A group of former lawyers and judges, including Reps. Lee Ju-young and Na Kyung-won of the governing Grand National Party (GNP), are seeking to make the initiative to revise the Constitution viable. Legislators of the opposition parties have also joined the move.

Over the past weeks, the lawmakers completed two rounds of seminars to look into the positive and negative sides of the presidential system and allowing a President to seek reelection, which is prohibited under the current law. A third round of debates is scheduled to take place next week.

Members of the group said their goal is to wrap up the constitutional debate by June 2010 before local elections take place.

Rep. Lee, who heads the group, said, ``Considerable social changes have taken place over the past two decades, but the current Constitution has not been responsive to the transformation.''

GNP Chairman Kang Jae-sup, several senior lawmakers of the main opposition United Democratic Party and Liberty Forward Party leader Lee Hoi-chang also shared the need for change in the presidential system, claiming the president is overly empowered under the current law.

Party leaders, lawmakers and academics expressed that a strong president tends to be a promoter of top-down politics, setting up obstacles to the free flow of communication between political leaders and the public over national agendas.

Despite the shared view, the question of how to revise the system still being debated among parliamentary leaders.

Some lawmakers call for a parliamentary system as an alternative power structure to replace the current presidential system in an attempt to enhance checks and balances, while others say that an incumbent President should be entitled to seek reelection as a measure to improve accountability.

As for the division, the group said it would keep all options open and campaign for the need for constitutional revision until the year's end so that a referendum to confirm the revision can take place next year at the earliest.

The group plans to review several options first that are seen to supplement the drawbacks of the current presidential system in following sessions, and conclude which option could fit after discussions with legal experts and academics.

The law stipulates that two-thirds (200) of legislators should vote for the drive for constitutional revision to make a referendum take place. Once the vote gets approval in the legislative body, the nation goes to the polls in a referendum.

hkang@koreatimes.co.kr