Tensions between South Korea's rival parties are rising as Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok and People Power Party floor leader Chung Jom-sig trade barbs over constitutional reform. The gap between the two sides has come into sharper focus through their respective floor speeches in the National Assembly.
In a floor speech on the 8th, Chung took aim at President Lee Jae-myung's remarks about amending the constitution to allow a second presidential term. "The president has mentioned a two-term system, but he never says he will not seek another term or that he will stand trial," Chung said. "Is the intention perhaps to extend his term through constitutional reform and use that to delay his trial?" He then declared that there would be "no constitutional reform under this administration," effectively opposing the Democratic Party's push for an amendment.
Kim responded immediately the same day after visiting the Constitutional Government Society, an association of former lawmakers, where he met its chairman, Chung Dae-chul. "One or two conditions have been attached, but looking at their substance, I do not think they pose a significant obstacle," Kim said. "The party will raise and debate the question of constitutional reform with an open attitude, upholding democratic principles."
Chung's conditions amount to demanding that President Lee renounce a second term and accept trial after leaving office, and Kim's point was that if those are accepted, there is no reason to block discussion of an amendment. "Everything is contained in the statement that we will pursue reform while observing the current constitution and legal procedures," Kim said, repeating that the conditions "cannot be an obstacle."
Kim had earlier presented constitutional reform as a formal agenda item in his own floor speech on the 7th. "We will pursue realistic constitutional reform that upholds the procedural spirit of the current constitution and laws while reflecting the changes of the times and the demands of the people," he said. "Writing the Gwangju Uprising and the Busan-Masan uprising into the constitutional preamble is the starting point of reform, and on restructuring the distribution of power, we can go as far as the people want."
Kim also called on the People Power Party to join the discussion. "The People Power Party, which hangs a portrait of President Kim Young-sam — the man who punished Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, rooted out the Hanahoe military clique and made the Gwangju Uprising part of the identity of his civilian government — will ultimately have to make a choice," he said. "I hope they will complete their historical reflection and set out on the path of reform together."
Chung, by contrast, challenged the premises of the discussion itself, arguing that the sitting president must first clarify his position on his term and on his criminal trial. He raised the suspicion that the amendment the Democratic Party is pursuing goes beyond restructuring the distribution of power and is aimed at affecting the president's term and trial. With Kim effectively leaving open the possibility of conditional talks, the dispute over the scope and procedure of any amendment is expected to continue.
The Constitutional Government Society also lent its weight to the Democratic Party, stressing again the need for reform. In his meeting with Kim, chairman Chung said the floor leader's declaration that there would be no reform under this administration "simply will not do." "We must amend the constitution," he said, adding: "The society intends to move toward a decentralized presidential system. We will work to achieve constitutional reform, the country's biggest political reform, under a Democratic Party government."
The group also urged that any amendment be reached by bipartisan agreement. Kim Sung-ho, spokesperson for the society, said after the meeting that members had told Kim that "as the truest heir of the Democratic Party, he should lead a politics of harmony and integration grounded in the spirit of the party and the spirit of Kim Dae-jung," and had asked him "to pursue constitutional reform through agreement between the governing and opposition parties."
The clash over reform is expected to sharpen if talks on restructuring the distribution of power begin in earnest. The Democratic Party says it will build public consensus on everything from writing the spirit of the Gwangju and Busan-Masan uprisings into the preamble to overhauling the power structure, while the People Power Party is drawing a line around the discussion itself by raising the president's term and trial first.
