By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
President Roh Moo-hyun said yesterday that the next presidential term is likely to be reduced due to a recent agreement by the pro-government and opposition parties to adopt a U.S.-style four-year, single-term presidential system.
In an open letter posted on the Chong Wa Dae Web site, Roh described his withdrawal of a plan to revise the Constitution for presidential term as an ``excellent political strategy'' to reach a compromise with political opponents.
Roh's remarks are construed as implicit pressure to presidential hopefuls of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) which oppose his push for a term revision, political insiders said.
The president expressed discontent over lawmakers from the pro-government Uri Party and opposition parties who he thinks frustrated his bid for political reasons.
``The next president will have to cut his or her tenure by nearly one year if the constitutional revision is carried out by the National Assembly,'' Roh said. ``I regret very much that the term revision has not been made this time.''
Roh had pushed to revise the Constitution to allow presidents to seek a two-term presidency with four years of tenure. His main motive for the revision was to synchronize the timing of the presidential and National Assembly elections.
The months-long debate on the issue ended on April 14 when Roh withdrew his proposal and agreed to postpone the issue until next year with political parties.