Assembly speaker calls for constitutional revision

By Yi Whan-woo

Chung Sye-kyun

National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun vowed Tuesday to push for a constitutional revision centered on changing the current five-year, single-term presidency.

During a press conference to mark one year since he took office, Chung also called for the need to revise a parliamentary act that requires the approval of 60 percent of lawmakers in passing a disputed bill.

The so-called National Assembly Advancement Act was initially aimed at preventing a large, single party from passing controversial bills unilaterally.

However, the rule has now become useless _ and could be abused _ because there is no party with a majority, according to Chung.

“I will push for a parliament-led constitution reform within my term, and I will ensure that the reform will be made in a predictable manner,” Chung told reporters at his office. “The procedures concerning the constitutional revision should be carried out transparently and publicly.”

His promise came after President Moon Jae-in reaffirmed his campaign pledge to overhaul the Constitution during a meeting with the floor leaders of the five parties in May.

The President said he will try to complete such an overhaul by June 2018. Chung’s two-year term as Assembly speaker ends in May next year.

Regarding the advancement act, Chung assessed that it contributed to improving parliament but “is not suitable any longer” under a multi-party system.

“A relevant measure should be adopted to increase productivity at the National Assembly. The National Assembly advancement act thus should be revised a bit although it should still exist,” Chung said.

He cited that reaching a consensus over contested issues has become a tough task under the 20th National Assembly. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) occupies 120 of the 299 parliamentary seats. The four opposition parties -- the Liberty Korea Party, the People’s Party, the Bareun Party and the Justice Party -- have 107, 40, 20 and six seats, respectively.

“The ruling and opposition parties should give in to each other to find ways to make the National Assembly work more efficiently while preventing parliament from being exploited by a simple majority,” Chung said.

He said it will not be appropriate for him to decide whether to use his authority and call on a parliamentary vote on Constitutional Court President nominee Kim Yi-su.

Moon tapped Kim, who is subject to parliamentary approval to head the Constitutional Court in mid-May. But the conservative parties have been against his nomination, citing the progressive tendencies in his rulings.

“There have been similar disputes in the past and we can refer to them in resolving the issue we face,” Chung said. “It will not be appropriate for me to mention whether to call on a vote regarding Kim because I think we still have to settle this issue.”