National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik introduces a proposed amendment to the Constitution during the first plenary session of the May extraordinary session of the National Assembly on May 7 in Yeouido, western Seoul. [YONHAP]
The National Assembly on Thursday failed to pass a constitutional amendment requiring the president to obtain parliamentary approval before declaring martial law after main opposition People Power Party (PPP) lawmakers
boycotted the vote.
The ruling Democratic Party (DP)-controlled parliament needed at least 11 votes from the PPP in favor to pass the amendment, which required 191 votes in support. The 191 votes represent a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly’s current 286 seats, reduced from the full 300 after several lawmakers resigned ahead of the June 3 local elections.
This marks the first attempt at constitutional revision in 39 years. The amendment vote took place in response to former President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived martial law declaration on Dec. 3, 2024, which led to his impeachment on Dec. 14, 2024 and his ouster on April 4 of last year.
With the vote failing to clear the National Assembly, not only the martial law revision but also provisions to include the legacy of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement and the 1979 Busan-Masan pro-democracy protests in the Constitution's preamble failed to be adopted.
The May 18 movement of 1980 was a pro-democracy uprising in Gwangju that was violently suppressed under military rule, while the 1979 Busan–Masan pro-democracy protests in Busan and Masan, South Gyeongsang, challenged authoritarian rule and helped trigger broader democratic change in Korea. Including the legacy of these movements in the Constitution’s preamble means formally recognizing them as key historical foundations of Korea’s democracy and embedding their significance and democratic values at the highest level of the country’s legal framework.
Three PPP lawmakers — Han Zee-a, Kim Yong-tae and Cho Kyoung-tae — expressed support for the amendment before Thursday’s vote, but PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok did not endorse the move.
People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok attends a caucus meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul on May 7. [NEWS1]
The PPP previously opposed the motion to impeach then-President Yoon on Dec. 7, 2024, with most of its lawmakers refusing to vote, as the motion also required a two-thirds majority. However, several of them voted in favor a week later, and the bill passed with 204 votes in support.
The National Assembly can still hold a vote for the constitutional amendment again. If the amendment clears parliament, it is put to a nationwide referendum and takes effect only if approved by a majority of voters.
The bill needs to clear the National Assembly by Sunday for a nationwide referendum to take place at the same time as the June 3 local elections, the first nationwide election since the Lee Jae Myung administration launched on June 4 last year.
President Lee has also underscored the need for the amendment to prevent another attempted illegal declaration of martial law.
“Since the current Constitution was revised in 1987, Korea has undergone major political, economic and social changes, but the Constitution has remained virtually unchanged for about 40 years,” Lee said at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. “The country has grown bigger, but its clothes no longer fit. When that happens, you need to alter the clothes.
“The realistic approach is to pursue partial constitutional revisions step by step, as long as there is consensus,” he added. “For example, who among the public would oppose preventing illegal martial law from ever happening again and strengthening the National Assembly’s oversight? Wouldn’t anyone opposing that have to be seen as defending an illegal declaration of martial law?”
댓글
0