Kim Min-seok: Push for a Constitution that can become reality, including power-structure reform up to the level people want

Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok said South Korea should pursue a constitutional revision that can actually become reality, while leaving the scope of changes to the level the public wants. He made the remarks during a roughly 35-minute speech to the National Assembly on the 7th.

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I will pursue a feasible constitutional revision that reflects the changes of the times and the demands of the people while upholding the procedural spirit of the current Constitution and laws.

Kim said the process should reflect changing times and public demands while preserving the procedural principles of the current Constitution and laws. He described adding the spirit of the May 18 Democratic Uprising and the Bu-Ma Democratic Protests to the Constitution’s preamble as “the starting point” for constitutional revision.

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The reform of the power structure should go as far as the people want.

He also raised the issue of reforming the power structure, saying it should go “as far as the people want.” The remarks come as the opposition has repeatedly argued that constitutional revision could open the way for President Lee Jae-myung to seek another term.

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The inclusion of the spirit of the May 18 Democratic Uprising and the Bu-Ma Democratic Protests in the Constitution’s preamble is the starting point of constitutional revision.

Kim’s position was interpreted as an attempt to keep constitutional reform moving while maintaining distance from a revision specifically tied to presidential re-election. People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk criticized the approach, saying, “Without the one statement that he will serve only one term, constitutional revision cannot happen.” Jang added that the opposition should persuade the president first, rather than the opposition party.

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Without the one statement that he will serve only one term, constitutional revision cannot happen.