Momentum builds for constitutional reform under new president

Presidential bodyguards rehearse a parade on May 27, a week before the presidential election took place Tuesday, at a training facility in Gangseo-gu of western Seoul . (Pool photo via Yonhap)

A constitutional amendment to ease South Korea’s strict presidential term limit has been a recurring campaign pledge in presidential elections since the current Constitution was adopted in 1987.

Yet, despite repeated promises, no serious attempt at a revision has materialized.

This year, however, anticipation for change is higher than ever.

The shift in public and political sentiment follows the self-coup attempt by former President Yoon Suk Yeol late last year. The incident laid bare the enduring vulnerabilities of South Korea’s so-called “imperial presidency,” a system that grants the executive sweeping powers with few institutional checks.

The crisis also underscored the urgent need for structural reform, not just to balance presidential authority, but also to address the lack of constitutional ways to resolve deadlocks between the president and a hostile legislature.

Against this backdrop, all major candidates in the June 3 presidential race have placed constitutional reform high on their agendas.

Among them was Lee Jae-myung, the candidate of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea, who was projected to win the election according to exit poll figures disclosed at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Vote counting was ongoing as of press time at 9:30 p.m.

The reforms proposed by Lee and the other candidates would enable future presidents to be reelected, a change touted as a way to allow more continuity in the presidency.

Currently, no president can serve more than one five-year term.

Lee and the Democratic Party suggested a new presidential system under which a president can serve two four-year terms, with a bid for reelection amounting to a referendum on the sitting president's performance.

The party has also proposed that a president be allowed to run for a second term only immediately after completing their first term, and not be eligible to run in later elections.

Article 128 of the Constitution stipulates that any amendment extending presidential terms "shall not be effective" for the president in office when it is passed.

However, Lee, in a news conference at the party's headquarters in Seoul on May 25, said he was open to the clause being changed so that Lee himself could serve up to eight years, as long as people want him to do so, although he added that he believed people would be unlikely to support such an idea.

In addition to easing the presidential term limit, Lee also proposed curtailing presidential power by toughening the requirements for the president to impose martial law and exercise their veto power.

Lee also promised to hand over presidential authority to the National Assembly regarding the recommendation of the prime minister, and curtailing the president's influence over the Board of Audit and Inspection to instead give parliament control of the agency. He suggested that a referendum on these proposals be held in 2028.

Contrary to his proposal of reducing the presidential term to three years during his previous presidential run in 2022, Lee in this year's campaign played down the chances of him serving for three years, calling for a “midterm evaluation” of the president through a general election.

Constitutional amendments in South Korea must be proposed by either a majority of lawmakers in parliament or the president. After a two-month public notice regarding the amendment, passage requires two-thirds of all parliamentary votes, and then a national referendum that secures the support of more than half of South Korea's eligible voters.