By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
The issue of whether South Korea should revise its Constitution is back in the spotlight.
Parties traded barbs Friday over President Lee Myung-bak's suggestion Wednesday that the country proceed with a constitutional change and rewrite the laws on electoral and administrative districts for the country's future.
Certainly, the change is the way the country has to go, as many social and political changes have taken place since the last update in 1987 under the administration of army general-turned-President Roh Tae-woo.
However, many analysts say a revision at this point is virtually impossible due to the stalled relations between ruling and opposition parties over the conservative leader's reform programs.
What makes it more unrealistic is a sharp division between the two largest factions of the governing Grand National Party (GNP) over the government's revision of the Sejong City project.
A re-writing of the country's supreme charter needs a ``yes'' vote from more than two-thirds of all lawmakers. The GNP has 169 seats in the 299-member National Assembly.
Following Lee's remarks Thursday, Lee Dong-kwan, presidential secretary for public relations, said the President had spoken about a principle that is already shared by many political leaders here. However, opposition parties suspect Lee has an ulterior motive.
"Lee proposed the constitutional revision at a very sensitive time when parties are set to select candidates for the June 2 local elections, which are viewed as a referendum on the Lee administration," Democratic Party Chairman Chung Sye-kyun said Friday.
"We won't dance to his tune. Our assumption is that he is gambling on finding a way out of the political deadlock, which resulted from his push for contentious reform bills."
According to recent opinion polls, Lee, who has just passed the second anniversary of his inauguration, is now enjoying public support of some 50 percent for his economic reform and diplomatic achievements, such as Korea's hosting of the G-20 Summit in November.
Despite his high popularity, many obstacles lie ahead, including fierce protests from opposition parties, for the ruling camp to achieve the goal of constitutional change.
Former GNP Chairwoman and four-term lawmaker Park Geun-hye, arguably the leading contender for the next presidency, has opposed the move to revise the Sejong project, raising concerns about a possible split in the governing party. She is leader of the party's second largest faction, to which some 50 fellow lawmakers belong.
The administration plans to submit the controversial bill next month to get parliamentary approval in April, despite her objections. The GNP leadership, led by Chairman Chung Mong-joon, a close aide to Lee, has increased pressure on Park to change her position.
In fact, constitutional revision is a long-standing issue here.
The late former President Roh Moo-hyun repeatedly called, in vain, for debates on changing the power structure and the election system.
Most recently, National Assembly Speaker Kim Hyong-o, a GNP member, urged parties to hold talks on the revision, but little progress has been made due to inter-party arguments over other sticky issues.
In fact, ruling and opposition parties have agreed in principle to revise the basic charter, but have taken different approaches. In other words, partisan interests could serve as a stumbling block to this matter, even if they do start a dialogue.
The revision is, of course, necessary at this point as the current Constitution leaves room for abuse of presidential power, according to scholars.
Advocates insist that the current power structure in the Constitution is partly responsible for many former presidents' unfortunate retirements as a result of their inappropriate deeds while in office and their relatives' misuse of their family ties for misconduct and involvement in bribery scandals. To deal with this, some have proposed a U.S.-style two-term presidency.
Others have called for the National Assembly to have more power so that lawmakers can play a role in checking an "imperial presidency."