[UPDATES] S. Korean president proposes constitutional revision

By Park Sae-jin Posted : October 24, 2016, 13:59 Updated : October 24, 2016, 15:45

[Photo by Namgung Jin-woong = timeid@]


South Korean President Park Geun-hye dropped a political bombshell Monday with a sudden proposal for a constitutional revision aimed at revising the president's single five-year term.

Park said during her parliamentary speech that her government would institute a body to prepare for the revision, urging political parties to open a debate in parliament.

The constitution was amended in 1987 at the end of South Korea's harsh dictatorship led by general-turned-president Chun Doo-hwan who seized power through a military coup. Since then, revising the constitution has been an extremely sensitive issue.

Now is the "right time" to rewrite the constitution, Park said, insisting South Korean leaders have been unable to pursue consistent, sustainable reforms or policy goals during their reign just for five years.

"The single, five-year presidential term ... might be suited for the past period of democratization, but it has now become clothes that no longer fit our body," she said.

"With the current political system in which we cannot move a step forward due to confrontation and division, we cannot expect a bright future."

Park, who took office in early 2013 as South Korea's first female president , expressed her hope that a constitutional revision should be completed before her term in office ends in February 2018.

Her sudden proposal came as opposition and ruling parties are in preparation for a race to select candidates for the country's presidential election in December next year.

There have been growing calls for a constitutional revision among legal and political experts who think the current constitution does not reflect the raft of social and political changes, but they are split over how to revise it.

South Korea's president or parliament can propose a constitutional revision which requires approval from two-thirds of votes in parliament and a majority of votes in a referendum.

Opposition parties were largely negative over Park's proposal, calling it a political gambit aimed at diverting public attention from a corruption scandal involving one of her confidants.

"We're not opposing a constitutional revision but we believe it's not appropriate," said Choo Mi-ae, head of the main opposition Democratic Party.

Seoul city mayor Park Won-soon, a possible presidential candidate, strongly opposed a constitutional revision, urging the president to focus on an economic agenda.

Opposition leaders argued Park should fully account for Choi Soon-sil, the daughter of a late pastor known to be Park's close confidant. They think Choi has exercised her great influence over Park and her administration.

Choi is suspected of playing a role behind suspicious fundraising activities involving the K-Sports foundation. There have been allegations, rejected by the president's office, that conglomerates had been forced to chip in for the foundation while some of the money went to paper companies established by Choi.


Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
 
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