Prime Minister Kim Min-seok has signalled that he will pursue constitutional reform. According to the Kyunghyang Shinmun and others, Mr Kim stressed a 'realistic' scope and said changes to the structure of executive power would be taken as far as the public wants.

Amending Korea's constitution requires the support of two-thirds of all sitting members of the National Assembly together with a majority in a national referendum. There have been repeated discussions since the 1987 revision, but none has advanced past the proposal stage.

Debate usually splits into two strands: how to adjust the president's term and powers, and how far to revise provisions on fundamental rights and decentralisation. The first is widely seen as hard to settle politically, the second as attracting less disagreement.

The repeated use of 'realistic' reads as a signal of starting from items where consensus is possible rather than attempting a full revision including executive structure. No detail has yet been offered on which items would come first.

In the National Assembly, forming a special committee on constitutional reform would be the first hurdle. Past experience shows that even once a committee exists, reconciling the parties' drafts has consumed considerable time.

For Koreans abroad and long-term foreign residents, the handling of voting rights and residence provisions is the point of interest. These have been dealt with in ordinary legislation rather than the constitution, but they tend to be raised whenever amendment talks open.