On the 78th Constitution Day, constitutional revision returned to the front of Korean politics. The National Assembly speaker proposed a bipartisan special committee, and the justice minister spoke of writing the spirit of the May 18 movement into the constitution.
Marking Constitution Day, the Assembly speaker proposed forming a bipartisan special committee to take up constitutional revision, Kyunghyang Shinmun reported. Justice Minister Chung Sung-ho said the same day that 'the spirit of May 18 should be placed in the constitution.'
광고 문의 · 300×250Korea's current constitution has not changed since its 1987 revision. Across nearly four decades, calls to amend it over the structure of power, the scope of basic rights and decentralization have surfaced steadily, but rarely reached a formal motion.
Amendment requires two-thirds of the full Assembly plus a national referendum, so it is impossible without cross-party agreement. Successive governments have raised the idea early in their terms only to see it crowded out by the political calendar; whether this proposal follows the same path is the question.
The issues divide broadly into restructuring power and expanding basic rights. The first concerns the president's term and authority; the second, writing new rights such as life, safety and environment into the text.
The Chinese community's interest lies with the rights clauses. How the provisions defining who holds basic rights, and the treatment of foreigners, are reworked could bear on debate over the legal standing of third- and fourth-generation Chinese Koreans. To date, though, no amendment discussion has taken the subject up in earnest.
