Hwang "Constitutional Amendment Needed to Address Fundamental Issues"
Lee "Must Keep Promise to Include May 18 in Constitution"
On the 18th, the 44th anniversary of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement, the leaders of the ruling and opposition parties shared the intention to include the spirit of May 18 in the preamble of the Constitution, but showed differing views on the scope of constitutional amendment.
Hwang Woo-yeo, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, proposed a comprehensive constitutional amendment focused on addressing fundamental issues of the current Constitution, including the inclusion of the May 18 spirit in the preamble.
People Power Party's Hwang Woo-yeo, Emergency Committee Chairman, is speaking at the meeting of non-incumbent organizational committee chairpersons held on the afternoon of the 18th at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center in Seo-gu, Gwangju. [Image source=Yonhap News]
After the May 18 memorial ceremony, Chairman Hwang met with reporters at a meeting with heads of external organizations and said, "This (the spirit of May 18) is not regionally limited to Gwangju, but has become the essence of South Korea’s liberal democracy movement, embodying the spirit of the Constitution itself." He added, "Constitutional amendment is truly difficult. If we are going to do it anyway, wouldn’t it be better to set the scope and address fundamental issues together?" He explained, "The preamble of the Constitution is declarative in nature, but would amending only that resolve the dissatisfaction? I think a constitutional amendment that incorporates everything is necessary."
Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung is attending the 'With Party Members - The Democratic Party Does It' Honam edition event held on the afternoon of the 18th at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center in Seo-gu, Gwangju. [Image source=Yonhap News]
On the other hand, Lee Jae-myung attended a party member event held at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center and said, "The President and the People Power Party have said they will do it. I don’t know if they are sincere, but since they promised, they must keep it." He added, "This time, we must definitely carry out a one-point constitutional amendment to include the spirit of May 18 Gwangju in the preamble."
The two also engaged in a dispute over President Yoon Suk-yeol’s omission of the mention of including the May 18 spirit in the constitutional preamble in his May 18 commemorative speech that day. At a press conference after the ceremony, Lee said, "He (President Yoon) clearly pledged it during the presidential election, and the People Power Party pledged it in this general election, but there was not a single word about including the May 18 spirit in the constitutional preamble." He added, "Breaking a promise is a more serious crime than fraud."
Chairman Hwang said, "The President has mentioned it several times, so it was unnecessary to mention it again in the commemorative speech, and since he spoke about other matters, it probably didn’t come up." He added, "Since the President has expressed his will several times, there is no need to see it as a change in position."
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