DistantNews
Support us
🇰🇷 South Korea /Elections & Politics

People Power Party leader calls presidential term extension 'true rebellion'

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Jang Dong-hyuk, leader of the People Power Party, called a potential push for presidential term extension by President Lee Jae-myung "true rebellion."
  • Jang criticized the current administration, citing economic instability, a 11% drop in the KOSPI index, and public anger over real estate policies.
  • He accused the Democratic Party of pushing for constitutional amendments to facilitate Lee's re-election, suggesting their true intentions are now revealed.

Jang Dong-hyuk, the leader of the People Power Party, has strongly condemned any potential move by President Lee Jae-myung to pursue constitutional amendments for a presidential term extension, labeling it "true rebellion."

If President Lee Jae-myung goes against the will of the people and the spirit of the current constitution and pushes for a term extension amendment, that would be true rebellion.

— Jang Dong-hyukResponding to remarks about presidential term extension.

Speaking at a party meeting, Jang directly responded to National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik's remarks that a current president's term extension is a matter of public choice. Jang accused Cho of being a presidential aide and suggested he had received "special training" to facilitate such constitutional changes.

Did President Lee Jae-myung bring Cho Jeong-sik to the Blue House as a special advisor and give him special training to carry out this constitutional amendment?

— Jang Dong-hyukQuestioning the National Assembly Speaker's comments on term extension.

Jang further criticized the Lee administration's performance over the past year, pointing to public outcry over the abolition of supplementary investigation rights and real estate policies. He highlighted the significant economic downturn, noting the KOSPI index dropped 11% and barely held above 6,000 points. "The Lee Jae-myung government has ruined every system in Korea for the past year, and the stock market has become hell," Jang asserted.

The Lee Jae-myung government has ruined every system in Korea for the past year, and the stock market has become hell.

— Jang Dong-hyukCriticizing the current administration's economic performance.

He questioned the timing of discussions about extending Lee's term, asking how much more the country would be ruined and the public would suffer. Jang also accused the Democratic Party of revealing their true intentions, suggesting their past calls for "one-point constitutional amendments" related to the May 18 Gwangju Uprising spirit and election commission reform were merely a prelude to seeking a second term for President Lee. He concluded that their actions show they have nothing else in mind but securing a re-election.

Ultimately, they were just probing here and there to get re-elected. They have nothing else in their heads.

— Jang Dong-hyukAccusing the Democratic Party of seeking re-election for President Lee.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog