Speaker of the National Assembly Initiates Constitutional Amendment... Launch of the 'Constitutional Amendment Advisory Committee'

"67% of Citizens Support Constitutional Amendment... Research Is Sufficient"
Political Reform Special Committee Also Says, "Chairperson Will Empower, We Will Do Our Best"

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Speaker of the National Assembly Kim Jin-pyo has launched the Constitutional Amendment and Political System Improvement Advisory Committee, initiating the process of constitutional revision.

On this day, Speaker Kim held the 'Constitutional Amendment and Political System Improvement Advisory Committee Appointment Ceremony' at the National Assembly Sarangjae and appointed three co-chairpersons and 21 advisory committee members.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The co-chairpersons appointed were Lee Sang-soo, Standing Representative of the Constitutional Amendment National Sovereignty Council (former Minister of Labor), who has long led discussions on constitutional amendment; Lee Ju-young, former Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and a prominent advocate for constitutional revision in the political sphere; and Park Sang-chul, professor at the Graduate School of Political Studies at Kyonggi University and a constitutional scholar who has participated in various constitutional amendment projects. The advisory committee members included academics, civic group representatives, and media figures recommended by Speaker Kim and both ruling and opposition parties.

At the appointment ceremony, Speaker Kim emphasized, "To move toward politics based on dialogue and compromise, we must revise the winner-takes-all constitutional system," adding, "Therefore, it is time for constitutional amendment." He continued, "During last year's budget process, both ruling and opposition parties showed a shameful appearance to the people. While the nation suffers from an economic crisis, the National Assembly seems to have been preoccupied only with battles over justification. At the end of self-serving politics focused solely on justification lies only the people's indifference."

Speaker Kim added, "Already, 67% of the public and 89% of experts support constitutional amendment," and said, "We have a historic mission to produce the outcome of constitutional amendment by heeding the thoughts of the people."

He further explained, "Since we have long pursued constitutional amendment, there is sufficient research on reviewing the constitution," and "With experts from various fields gathered, I am confident that a reasonable constitutional amendment proposal that satisfies the National Assembly and gains public consent will emerge."

Members of the Special Committee on Political Reform also supported Speaker Kim's constitutional amendment initiative. Nam In-soon, Chairperson of the Special Committee on Political Reform, stated, "Many say it will be impossible, but I will do my best to meet the deadline while consulting with the ruling and opposition party floor leaders," adding, "The Speaker is also strongly supporting this effort."

Jeon Jae-su, opposition party floor leader of the Special Committee on Political Reform, said, "The Speaker has shown more interest in constitutional amendment and political system improvement than any previous Speaker," and added, "The National Assembly Secretariat has gathered the 50 most capable and outstanding officials to create a concrete roadmap for constitutional amendment and political system improvement, and if the ruling and opposition parties make a decision, we can start immediately. The Speaker has made extensive preparations."

Earlier, in a special interview marking 100 days since his inauguration in October last year, Speaker Kim proposed a 'four-year renewable presidential system' as the direction for constitutional amendment. In his New Year's address on the 1st, he emphasized, "I will do my best to change 'politics of conflict and factionalism' into 'politics of integration and cooperation,'" and added, "To this end, I will begin full-scale preparations for constitutional amendment. I will also expedite the revision of political-related laws, including the election law, to change the winner-takes-all political culture."