Six ruling and opposition parties, excluding the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), jointly proposed a constitutional amendment on the 3rd together with National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik — just two months before the June 3 local elections. The amendment primarily aims to impose stricter constitutional restrictions on the requirements for declaring martial law, a power exclusive to the president, while expanding the National Assembly's authority to approve or lift such declarations. The preamble, which forms the backbone of the Constitution, was also revised to add language on inheriting the spirit of the May 18 Democratization Movement and the Busan-Masan Democratic Uprising alongside the existing April 19 democratic ideals. If the amendment becomes reality, it would mark the first constitutional revision in 39 years since the ninth amendment in 1987, which established the current single five-year presidential term through direct election following the June Democratic Uprising.
The proposed amendment excludes sensitive issues such as presidential term length, re-election, or restructuring the power framework, and instead focuses on matters that enjoy broad public consensus. President Lee Jae-myung expressed support for the amendment push the previous day, saying, "I hope we can make at least some progress within what is achievable this time." The PPP also stated in principle that it "does not oppose constitutional revision." However, PPP floor leader Song Eon-seok explained his opposition, saying, "If a constitutional amendment is timed to an election, that election becomes a referendum on the amendment because it acts like a black hole that absorbs everything."
As the Constitution is the supreme law embodying the nation's ideology and philosophy, its revision procedures are far more stringent than those for ordinary legislation. A proposal requires initiation by the president or a majority of sitting National Assembly members, and passage through the plenary session requires consent from at least two-thirds of all sitting members. This is fundamentally impossible without defections among the PPP's 107 lawmakers. In 2018 under the Moon Jae-in administration, a government-proposed amendment that included a four-year renewable presidential term also failed to meet the voting quorum due to opposition from rival parties.
Constitutional amendment is not something to be pushed through on a deadline as a speed campaign. The overarching principle of bipartisan agreement on constitutional revision must be upheld this time as well. An amendment that excludes the main opposition party would struggle to win the public's full support, even if it were to pass the National Assembly by attracting defecting votes. The current Constitution itself passed the National Assembly as a joint proposal through ruling-opposition consensus at the time, which is precisely why it received an overwhelming 93.1% approval in the national referendum. Even now, the proper course would be for the National Assembly to launch a bipartisan constitutional revision consultative body and go through deliberation processes including public debate.