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PPP presidential candidate Kim calls on DP's Lee to clarify leadership term proposal

Published: 18 May. 2025, 18:37

People Power Party (PPP) presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo announces his pledges at PPP headquarters in western Seoul on May 18.

People Power Party presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo on Sunday called on fellow candidate Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party to clarify whether his proposed constitutional amendment to adopt a four-year presidential term with the possibility of re-election leaves room for long-term rule.

"I welcome Lee’s proposal to amend the Constitution for a four-year presidential term with re-election," Kim said in a statement on Sunday. "However, I ask for an explanation regarding his choice of words — specifically the term 'consecutive terms' in his constitutional reform pledge.

"The term, 'nonconsecutive re-election' means a president can be re-elected only once, making the maximum tenure eight years. But 'consecutive terms' suggests a president could serve two terms, take a break and then run for two more terms. We must not overlook the example of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has abused this system to effectively maintain long-term power."

Kim also proposed five key directions for constitutional reform: shortening the presidential term, introducing a four-year presidential term with a one-time re-election via direct voting, abolishing the president’s immunity from criminal prosecution, eliminating the National Assembly’s privilege from arrest and speech-related immunity and securing the neutrality and independence of Supreme Court and Constitutional Court justices.

Kim suggested shortening the next president’s term to three years to align the election cycle with the general election and drive bold political reform.

“I propose that the president elected in this cycle voluntarily reduce the term from five years to three years,” he said.

He formally proposed a constitutional amendment to adopt a four-year term with re-election.

People Power Party (PPP) presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo announces his pledges at PPP headquarters in western Seoul on May 18.

“This will align with the principle of responsible politics and ensure political stability,” he said. “We will also accept broad changes to presidential powers to dismantle the imperial presidency.”

He vowed to completely abolish the president’s privilege of immunity from criminal prosecution.

"Even if one becomes president, they should not have the right to avoid criminal trials," he said. "We will establish the fundamental principle of equality before the law.”

Kim also proposed establishing a legally mandated recommendation committee and requiring a two-thirds majority vote in the National Assembly to ensure the neutrality and independence of Supreme Court and Constitutional Court justices,

He also called for abolishing lawmakers' immunity from arrest and speech, introducing citizen legislative initiatives and implementing a recall system for lawmakers.

“The people’s demand for constitutional reform is not to allow unlimited power to the powerful, but to impose limits on the abuse of authority,” Kim said. “The principles I propose are about relinquishing power for the people.

“Political reform must not serve the interests of those in power or of any particular party. It must restore the people’s trust. I will walk this path together with the nation.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY JEONG HYE-JEONG [[email protected]]