Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.
Constitution revision to be discussed
6-member committee : Six members from the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) hold hands at their first joint meeting to discuss measures to improve national living standards and other key issues at the National Assembly, Friday. From left are Byun Jae-ill, chairman of the DUP’s policy committee; Park Ki-choon, DUP floor leader; Moon Hee-sang, DUP chairman; Hwang Woo-yea, chairman of the ruling party; Lee Hahn-koo, Saenuri Party floor leader and Na Seong-lin, acting chairman of the ruling party’s policy committee. Yonhap
By Jun Ji-hye
By Jun Ji-hye
Bipartisan lawmakers said Friday that they have agreed to establish a body at the National Assembly for discussions on amending the Constitution to revise the nation’s single-term, five-year presidential term of office.
Six members of the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) agreed on a proposal that future presidents should serve four years in office, with a maximum of two consecutive terms, at the first meeting of the joint consultative group. Pursuing this issue was a presidential election campaign pledge from both parties.
“We share the need for a Constitutional amendment because the current provisions encourage authoritarianism,” said Reps. Na Seong-lin and Byun Jae-ill, heads of policy committees of the ruling and the opposition parties, respectively.
They added, “We decided to establish the parliamentary body to conduct full-scale discussions on the issue.”
Floor Leaders Lee Hahn-koo and Park Ki-choon plan to meet next week for further discussions on details regarding the envisioned body. Na and Byun proposed the possibility that the body could become a special committee in the Assembly saying, “We will consider whether to form the special committee after floor leaders hold talks.”
Fifth-term lawmaker Lee Jae-oh of the ruling party, who led the discussions on Constitutional revision along with other like-minded lawmakers, welcomed the bipartisan agreement.
“I hope the two parties will succeed in achieving the revision because many members of the public want it as well,” he said in a statement.
The presidential term has been an issue of debate since October 1987 when the current Constitution was last amended, because it has been criticized for giving too much power to the office of president.
In February, DUP floor leader Park Ki-choon also demanded an Assembly-led discussion on the issue during a speech given during a regular session of the parliament.
“The strong authority of the president is a major cause of political conflicts. The core of political reform is to disperse such power,” Park said.
Hours after Park’s proposal, the ruling party said it agreed with the opposition’s floor leader, stating, “We also see the necessity considering the importance of decentralizing power. It was a presidential election pledges made by both parties as well.”
When the presidential election was looming last year, President Park Geun-hye, then candidate of the ruling party, said if elected and if the public was in favor of it she would look to amend the Constitution.
Former DUP candidate Moon Jae-in also expressed his will to revise the Constitution.
The Constitution has been amended nine times so far since it was first established in 1948. After 1987, the need to revise it arose every time a new administration was elected, but the issue has always been put on hold due to differing interests within each political faction.