To ensure that changes reflect the will of the people.
Election commission officials tallying the ballots of the referendum on Oct. 27, 1987, to approve the 9th amendment of the Constitution. Provided by the National Election Commission
Opposition parties have accused Mr. Roh of having ulterior motives for making the proposal, with the Dec.19 presidential election approaching. One of the likeliest candidates, Park Geun-hye of the Grand National Party, chided Mr. Roh, calling him a “very bad president.” Critics claim that Mr. Roh is trying to meddle in politics as his term ends and beyond his term in office. Mr. Roh’s term ends in February 2008.
Public opinion is against Mr. Roh’s proposal as well. Several polls conducted a day after Mr. Roh announced his plan showed a majority who want the amendment issue left for Mr. Roh’s successor to discuss. Fifty-six percent of people polled by JoongAng Ilbo agreed there is a need for the amendment, but 68.7 percent of them want Mr. Roh to leave it for the next president to pursue.
Why then did Mr. Roh bring up the issue and provoke controversy?
Mr. Roh’s plan is based on reasoning that the terms of service of the president and National Assembly representatives need to start in the same year, so as to reduce the cost of holding elections ― for administrative efficiency. Mr. Roh claims that this year is the best time for the Constitutional revision, as next year happens to be the first time in 20 years when both presidential and parliamentary terms start anew. If the amendment passes this year, Mr. Roh’s successor would serve almost a year short of the five-year presidential term that expires in February 2013, to match the parliamentary term that ends in April 2012.
President Roh noted that the current single, five-year term was created in a 1987 amendment of the Constitution as a safeguard to prevent would-be-dictators from prolonging their terms in office. Mr. Roh asserts that since our democracy is no longer threatened by dictators, the amendment is needed for administrative efficiency.
Mr. Roh appears to be planning to submit the amendment bill soon, presumably in the middle of February. He has to publicize the amendment for at least 20 days, and the National Assembly must vote on it within 60 days from the time the president formally submits it. The Constitution gives the president or a majority of National Assembly members the authority to propose an amendment.
In order to pass the National Assembly, the bill must earn the approval of at least two thirds of the assemblymen. Prospects are not good for the bill to pass, due to the formidable opposition from the Grand National Party, whose legislators hold 127 out of 296 seats in the assembly. Even if the bill passes, that’s not the end of the process. The amendment must be voted on in a referendum within 30 days of being passed by the assembly. The amendment is approved only after a majority of the electorate supports it in a vote where at least 51 percent of eligible voters participate in the election.
Why is it so difficult to amend the Constitution? The answer can be found in the nature of a Constitution: it is the highest law of the land; it guarantees the basic rights of the people, and states the founding principles of the country.
The Constitution defines how a state is organized and how its government is run. All state organizations are established as provided for in the articles of the Constitution. The state’s administration can operate only as empowered by the Constitution.
Article 10 of the Korean Constitution assures the dignity of human beings, the right to pursue happiness and human rights that cannot be infringed upon. The Constitution sees the dignity and worth of human beings as the highest values of the nation and guarantees people’s basic rights, including various freedoms, equality and suffrage.
The Constitution of Korea is made up of a preamble and 10 chapters, which contain 130 articles and additional clauses. The Constitution upholds the ideals of democracy, welfare and international peace. It states that sovereign power resides in the public. These are the ideological foundations of the Korean Constitution, which became the standard of interpretation of articles of the Constitution and other laws. It also sets the parameters of legislation and policy making.
As the Constitution places sovereign power in the hands of the public, it is the public that endorses amendments to the Constitution and elects presidents and legislators to the National Assembly. Democratic freedom embodies civil liberties and political democracy, based upon the guarantee of human dignity and basic human rights. In upholding democracy, Korea pursues the rule of law, pluralism in (multiparty) politics and separation of powers.
To promote public welfare, the government has the responsibility to guarantee the satisfaction of basic needs of the public and a minimum level of cultural provision. The government also has to make policies for welfare guided by this spirit of the Constitution.
Article 5 of the Constitution rejects aggressive wars and affirms respect for international law.
The Korean Constitution has been revised nine times since it was promulgated on July 17, 1948. Most of the revisions were designed by presidents who proposed them to prolong their terms in office.
The first amendment was introduced in 1952 by President Syngman Rhee, in the midst of the Korean War (1950 to 1953). Mr. Rhee, South Korea’s first president, proclaimed martial law to push through his amendment, which changed the election of the president and the vice president into direct elections. Mr. Rhee also changed the National Assembly from a unicameral (one house) to a bicameral (two houses) legislature. In1954, Mr. Rhee made another amendment, designed to prolong his one-man rule. The amendment sought to exempt him from the limit on re-electing the president. When the National Assembly opened the voting, 135 out of 203 legislators voted for the amendment; the minimum vote needed was 136. The vice speaker of the assembly, Choi Sun-ju, who belonged to Mr. Rhee’s Jayu (Freedom) Party, reversed the result of the vote the following day.
The rationale for the reversal was that two thirds of 203 is 135.333, and under the principle of rounding off numbers under 5, the minimum votes should be 135. The amendment was unpopular with the public, and is known as the “round-off amendment” to this day. Mr. Rhee was eventually forced to step down in 1960 following the popular uprising known as the April 19 Movement.
Yun Po-sun, who took the Blue House after Mr. Rhee, amended the Constitution in 1960 to introduce a parliamentary cabinet system of government. In November that year, Mr. Yun made another amendment in a disciplinary action against collaborators in the Japanese colonial government.
Mr. Yun, however, did not complete his term: Park Chung Hee took power in a military coup on May 16, 1961. In 1962, Mr. Park made a constitutional revision to change the parliamentary government system back to the presidential system. Mr. Park also changed the National Assembly from bicameral to a unicameral system under the same amendment.
In October 1969, Mr. Park made another constitutional change, allowing a president to take three consecutive terms. In October 1972, when his third term drew to a close, he again made an amendment, changing the presidential election from direct to indirect election.
Mr. Park remained in power until Oct. 26,1979, when Kim Jae-gyu, his confidant and chief of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, shot him to death. Korea again saw another military coup on Dec.12,1979 led by Chun Doo Hwan. In 1980, Mr. Chun made a constitutional change, giving a seven-year term to the president, while keeping the indirect election system.
In 1987, the public broke its silence and a tidal wave of nationwide protests arose, known as the June Movement for democratization. Roh Tae-woo, Mr. Chun’s confidant and hand-picked successor, buckled under the pressure and announced the restoration of direct elections. The National Assembly thereupon passed an amendment bill, giving the current five-year, single term to the president, learning from our history of presidents who amended the Constitution to prolong their hold on power.
History of Constitutional amendments in Korea
July 17, 1948
The Constitution is promulgated, with a presidential system. The president is elected indirectly by the National Assembly, which is unicameral.
July 7, 1952
President Syngman Rhee makes the first amendment, whereby, the president and vice president will be elected directly by the public, and the National Assembly will be bicameral.
Nov. 29, 1954
Mr. Rhee makes the second amendment, allowing re-election only for the first president (himself). The prime minister’s post is abolished.
June 15, 1960
Mr. Rhee steps down after the April 19, 1960 uprising. Yun Po-sun takes power and makes an amendment adopting a parliamentary government with the president elected indirectly by the National Assembly.
Nov. 29, 1960
Mr. Yun again amends the Constitution in March of that year to allow punishment for fraudulent elections and pro-Japanese collaboration during Japan’s colonial rule of Korea.
Dec. 26, 1962
Park Chung Hee, who took power in a 1961 military coup and became president in 1962, amends the Constitution a fifth time. The amendment restored the presidential system and a unicameral assembly.
Oct. 21, 1969
Mr. Park again amends the Constitution to allow a president three consecutive terms, in a bid to prolong his term.
Dec. 17, 1972
The seventh amendment is made by Mr. Park, to change the presidential election back to an indirect election system.
Oct. 27, 1980
The eighth amendment is made by Chun Doo-hwan, who took power in a 1979 military coup after Mr. Park was assassinated. This amendment gave the president a seven-year term.
Oct. 29, 1987
The ninth amendment is made after the popular June Movement for democratization. President Chun accepted public demands to return to direct elections and to give only a single, five-year term to the president.
Jan. 9, 2007
President Roh Moo-hyun announces a plan to amend the Constitution to give a four-year term to future presidents with one chance of re-election.
By Chun Su-jin(Staff Writer)/ Lee Tae-jong(JoongAng Ilbo) [sujiney@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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