Parliament speaker proposes referendum on constitutional revision next year

By Lim Chang-won Posted : August 22, 2017, 16:17 Updated : August 22, 2017, 16:17
 

[Photo by Namkung Jinwoong = timeid@ajunews.com]



South Korea's parliamentary leader proposed a referendum next year on revising the constitution enacted three decades ago under the dictatorship of a former army general who seized power through a military coup.

"It's time to change 30-year-old clothes," National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun said in an interview with Aju News, suggesting that South Korea needs a new framework of national operation in order to stop the recurrence of a corruption scandal involving ousted ex-president Park Geun-hye.

There has been a public consensus, in general, about the distribution of presidential power, he said, referring to street demonstrations that led to Park's disgraced fall.

Many legal experts and pundits have attributed the scandal to the concentration of power in the hands of a president who is barred from running for a second five-year term.

Chung suggested political parties could work together on a constitutional amendment by the end of this year to be put to a referendum during local elections in June next year.

"I think the possibility of an amendment is great, but there are some concerns," he said. "Everyone agrees on the distribution of presidential power, but the idea of restructuring the power structure is slightly different."

He voiced guarded optimism saying a special parliamentary committee would be able to coordinate and narrow differences. "The goal is to create a constitutional amendment this year so that it can be put to a vote in local elections next year."

Touching on a diplomatic row between Seoul and Beijing over a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery, Chung accused Park of pushing ahead with its deployment unilaterally without obtaining parliamentary approval in advance.

"It's regrettable that the former government made a unilateral decision on the deployment of a THAAD battery. As the first button was misplaced, it has reached the present situation," he said, adding government officials and legislators should have handled it together.

Chung blasted the previous government for making a decision without any diplomatic consultations with neighboring countries and called for "active" official dialogue between Seoul and Beijing to solve any dispute on political and military issues while maintaining economic and cultural relations. "Neighboring nations should make joint efforts to eliminate the cause of the THAAD dispute."

The speaker supported strong sanctions against North Korea in retaliation for its defiant missile and nuclear development but he opposed any military means or South Korea's nuclear armament.

"It is true that North Korea broke the principle of denuclearization... However, if we hit back with nuclear weapons, we will be eventually on the road to collapse together," he said, supporting President Moon Jae-in in advocating South Korea's diplomatic initiative to ride out a nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula.


 
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