Allowing 2-term presidency should be discussed, Lee says

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Allowing 2-term presidency should be discussed, Lee says

Lee Hoi-chang, presidential nominee of the Grand National Party, said in an interview published Monday that, as president, he would propose for public debate a constitutional change allowing Korean presidents to serve two terms.

"Constitutional revision should be approached from a basis of national innovation rather than from that of political strategy," Mr. Lee told the Weekly Hankook. "When I become president, I will solicit bipartisan cooperation to put to public debate for expedient conclusion the issue of constitutional amendment."

Such a constitutional revision would be the 10th since the founding of the Korean republic in 1948.

Constitution revision has been a persistent theme during the incumbent administration as politicians debate the efficacy of the single five-year presidential tenure that came into place with the ninth constitutional revision in 1987. An erstwhile presidential hopeful in the Millennium Democratic Party, Rhee In-je, and Park Geun-hye, who is expected to run under the banner of the new Korean Coalition for the Future, are among those supporting such an amendment.

"A single five-year tenure is not perfect, but I do not agree that the current constitution has a fundamental problem," the 67-year-old former Supreme Court justice said. "I will put every proposal up for thorough public debate, whether it be a change for a parliamentary government or for a four-year renewable presidential tenure."

Grand National Party sources said that Mr. Lee's first substantive comment on constitutional amendment is intended to preempt the debate that they expect the Millennium Democratic Party to launch after the June 13 local elections.

"Should that happen, a change in the political landscape may happen where politicians will dealign and realign among themselves," the source said. "Mr. Lee has made his views more clear in order to counter such a political possibility."

by Lee Sang-il

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