Speaker Park Byeong-seok "Next Year Is the Right Time"
Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun "We Must Start Properly Implementing the Spirit of the Constitution in Line with the Times"
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] The Prime Minister and the Speaker of the National Assembly, who respectively represent the government and the National Assembly, reignited the debate on constitutional amendment on the 17th, marking the 72nd Constitution Day, by mentioning the necessity of revising the constitution.
On this day, Speaker Park Byeong-seok proposed at the Constitution Day commemorative ceremony held at the National Assembly, "Considering the upcoming political schedule, next year is the right time for constitutional amendment," and suggested, "Let's start full-scale discussions on constitutional amendment once we overcome the COVID-19 crisis."
Speaker Park stated, "The current constitution, revised in 1987, embraces democratization as the spirit of the era and focuses on the direct election of a single five-year presidential term and the expansion of liberal fundamental rights to eliminate authoritarianism," adding, "There is a consensus that it is difficult for the current constitution, which has passed a generation, to fully reflect today's spirit of the times," emphasizing the need for constitutional amendment.
He particularly said, "Our society has long felt the necessity of constitutional amendment, but ultimately failed to overcome the last hurdle of political parties' interests, such as power structure issues," and urged, "We must create a new national norm that reflects the spirit of the times by solely following the will of the people, not the interests of the political circles," calling for serious discussions between the ruling and opposition parties.
Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, known as a proponent of constitutional amendment, also stated on Facebook that "It is time to start the work of maturing democracy achieved through candlelight protests to the next level and properly implementing the constitutional spirit in all fields such as economy, society, culture, labor, and environment in accordance with the changing trends of the times."
When he was the Speaker of the National Assembly in 2018, Prime Minister Chung emphasized, "Constitutional amendment is the biggest task of the 20th National Assembly," and "Looking back at history, constitutional amendments were always made after citizen revolutions." At the end of last year, during his candidacy for Prime Minister, he also said, "I hope the 21st National Assembly will achieve constitutional amendment within a year after its formation."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
