National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik appeared on the pro-Democratic Party YouTube channel 'Maebul Show' on the 14th. It's unusual for the National Assembly Speaker to appear directly on a YouTube broadcast. In this show, Speaker Woo noted that constitutional amendments will be discussed at the regular National Assembly session next month, citing the four-year term extension among the topics.
Speaker Woo said during the 'Maebul Show' that he believes the discussion on constitutional amendments will take place during the regular National Assembly. He added, 'We need to form a special committee for constitutional amendments around the end of September or the beginning of October, and we need to revise the National Referendum Act.'
To enact a constitutional amendment, the amendment proposal must be approved by two-thirds of the National Assembly members present. A national referendum must then be conducted within 30 days, and it must receive a majority vote from eligible voters in the National Assembly and a majority approval from those who participate in the vote.
However, the National Referendum Act has remained unconstitutional for 11 years, rendering constitutional amendments impossible under the current conditions. The Constitutional Court decided in 2014 that Article 14, Section 1 of the National Referendum Act, which prevents overseas citizens without a residential registration in the country from participating in referendums, infringes on the right to vote in national referendums, but the National Assembly has not amended this provision.
Speaker Woo said, 'If a president comes who aims to maintain and strengthen power at the expense of democratic values, it will be very difficult to prevent a state of emergency.' He noted, 'In order to solidify democracy, constitutional amendments are necessary.'
However, he stated, 'If we talk about (constitutional amendments) in a situation where national governance is not stable, we could get sucked into a black hole.' He emphasized, 'The three major special investigations must achieve results, and we will propose constitutional amendments only when national governance is stable.'
Speaker Woo remarked, 'Let's create a constitutional amendment that can address the lives of the people in this era.' Among the specific constitutional amendment tasks, he mentioned transferring the Board of Audit and Inspection, which is currently under the president, to the National Assembly, a four-year term extension for the president, and including the spirit of the May 18 Democratic Movement in the Constitution's preamble.
President Lee Jae-myung announced a proposal for constitutional amendments to introduce a four-year term extension for the president and a runoff voting system during the presidential election campaign. President Lee noted in May that 'the current Constitution states that the term extension system does not apply to the sitting president during the amendment process.'