National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik said Friday that the next half of the National Assembly "must form a special committee on constitutional amendment, and I also hope the media will play a role in helping it bear fruit."
Woo made the remarks at a farewell press conference held at the National Assembly, expressing regret that the constitutional amendment had not been realized. Woo had jointly proposed a constitutional revision bill with lawmakers from across the aisle, excluding the People Power Party, but the vote failed to reach a quorum after PPP lawmakers boycotted the plenary session.
Still, Woo offered a positive assessment of progress on the amendment effort. "We created a new major current. We revised the National Referendum Act to remove procedural obstacles and proposed a new approach to raise the chances of success," he said. "Public consensus has also broadened around a phased amendment that starts with items where national agreement is strongest."
Reflecting on his tenure, Woo cited several achievements: defending democracy against the December 3 martial law declaration and restoring the constitutional order; concentrating efforts on parliamentary diplomacy to enhance Korea's external credibility; embodying the spirit of popular sovereignty in the Assembly's physical space, including engraving Article 1 of the Constitution at the main gate of the National Assembly building; establishing the National Assembly Archives; and laying out a 2035 carbon neutrality roadmap.
On the issue of "Speaker neutrality" that emerged amid the standoff between the ruling and opposition parties, Woo said, "If neutrality means 'standing still' between the two sides, the National Assembly will face increasing difficulties going forward."
Asked whether he would run in the upcoming Democratic Party convention, Woo declined to elaborate, saying only that he would "do my best in what I can do for the people, for our country's democracy, and for the socially disadvantaged." "I left the party because I had to serve as Speaker, so I understand I will be automatically reinstated once my term ends," he said. "There's no scenario in which I don't rejoin. I will rejoin, and once I do, I will need to play the role required of a party member."
When asked what he would like to say to his successor, Rep. Cho Jung-sik, Woo said, "I hope he will devise better ways to process bills related to people's livelihoods and do so more capably than I did." He added, "I hope he will further expand the institutions of the National Assembly and strengthen its role, properly establishing the separation of powers so that the legislature can effectively check the government."
