Lee Jae-myung Proposes a Referendum on Constitutional Amendment to Introduce Two 4-year Presidential Terms in Next Parliamentary Elections

Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung speaks at a meeting of the party’s Supreme Council at the party’s Incheon office in Namdong-gu, Incheon on January 11. Kim Chang-gil

On January 12, Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung claimed that a constitutional amendment and political reforms to uphold the thoughts of the people were urgent and officially proposed a constitutional amendment changing the presidential term to four years with the possibility of a second term. Lee suggested that a referendum on the constitutional amendment be held simultaneously along with the parliamentary elections next year.

The Democratic Party leader held a New Year’s press conference at the National Assembly on Thursday and announced, “This year marks the thirty-sixth year of the Constitution that was amended in 1987,” and said, “The Democratic Party of Korea will submit a draft amendment of the Constitution set for March this year.”

Lee explained, “We need to change the term of the president from the current single five-year term to a four-year term that can be extended if the president is reelected to realize accountable politics and enhance the continuity of state administration.” He argued, “We also need to institutionally guarantee political coalitions and partnerships on policies by introducing a two-round system in the presidential election.”

The major opposition party leader also called for measures to overcome an imperial presidency, such as appointing a prime minister recommended by the National Assembly and transferring the jurisdiction over the Board of Audit and Inspection to the National Assembly. He said, “It is now time to put into action our ideas to strengthen autonomy and decentralization along with the people’s basic rights, such as environmental rights and the right to life; to expand direct democracy, such as initiative and recall processes; and to stipulate the May 18 pro-democracy movement in the preamble of the Constitution.”

Lee said, “We can draw a draft amendment after plenty of deliberation and amend the Constitution to the extent of the agreement reached by then with a referendum in next year’s parliamentary elections,” and suggested that the National Assembly form a special committee on the constitutional amendment. He further argued that changing the election system for lawmakers to ensure the equal weight of votes and to break away from regionalism was a task just as important as the constitutional amendment.

The Democratic Party leader called for President Yoon Suk-yeol to stop trying to destroy the opposition party and once again proposed a meeting between the leaders of the ruling and opposition parties. Lee said, “So far, the government spoke in favor of governance, but mobilized law enforcement agencies and focused on destroying the opposition party--on killing their opponents,” and criticized, “They deceived the people by engaging in double-dealings.” He then mentioned how he had proposed a meeting with the president several times and said that his proposal was still valid. He urged the president to return the unilateral and violent state administration back to normal and to stop schemes to get rid of the opposition party.

Lee Jae-myung proposed three major solutions to overcome the crises in the people’s livelihoods and the economy and said, “We need to drastically reshuffle the cabinet including those overseeing the economy.” He also suggested a nationwide emergency meeting on the economy with representatives of the National Assembly, the government, businesses and labor. Lee further suggested a thirty-trillion-won emergency project to support the people’s livelihoods, including support to pay interest for housing lease deposits, a program to reduce loan interests for common people, and a bigger budget for local currencies.

Lee said, “We need to move beyond the age of every man for himself, which only guarantees the minimum quality of life, and prepare a basic society where the state is responsible for the basic lives of its citizens,” and promised the people a basic income, basic finance, and basic housing. He announced that he would establish a basic society committee in the Democratic Party to prepare the Vision of a Basic Society 2050.