Six Parties Excluding People Power Propose Constitutional Amendment: May 18 Spirit Included, Martial Law Requirements Strengthened

Strengthening National Assembly Oversight of Martial Law
Mandating Balanced National Development
At Least 10 People Power Party Members Must Break Ranks

A proposed constitutional amendment has been introduced, which would require the President to obtain approval from the National Assembly when declaring martial law and include the spirit of the May 18 Democratization Movement in the Constitution's preamble. In order for the amendment to be put to a national referendum along with the local elections on June 3, at least 10 members of the People Power Party would need to break ranks by the time of the National Assembly plenary session scheduled for next month.

On April 3, Speaker of the National Assembly Woo Won-shik and six floor parties, including the Democratic Party of Korea, introduced the constitutional amendment bill containing these provisions. The People Power Party did not participate in the proposal of the amendment.

(Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Donghae = Woo Wonshik, Speaker of the National Assembly, is holding a draft constitutional amendment to be proposed and is taking a commemorative photo with the floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties at his National Assembly office on April 3, 2026. [Joint Coverage] eastsea@yna.co.kr (End)

A total of 187 lawmakers signed the amendment, including 160 from the Democratic Party of Korea, 12 from the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, 4 from the Progressive Party, 3 from the Reform New Party, 1 each from the Basic Income Party and the Social Democratic Party, and 6 independents.

Prior to submitting the amendment on this day, Speaker Woo told reporters, "I hope we can once again appreciate the significance of opening the door to constitutional reform that has been blocked for 39 years, in order to create a Republic of Korea that moves toward the future."

The core of this amendment is to strengthen the National Assembly's control over martial law. It stipulates that when the President declares martial law, approval from the National Assembly must be obtained without delay. If the National Assembly either rejects martial law or fails to approve it within 48 hours of the declaration, the martial law immediately loses its effect. Similarly, if the National Assembly votes to lift martial law, the effect is also immediately nullified.

The amendment also includes provisions to specify the spirit of the Busan-Masan Democracy Protests and the May 18 Democratization Movement in the preamble of the Constitution. This is due to the current preamble's failure to reflect the history of democracy after the April 19 Revolution.

The obligation to address regional disparities and achieve balanced national development is also to be enshrined in the Constitution. This mandates not only the development of local economies but also the establishment of local living infrastructure—including education, healthcare, culture, jobs, housing, and transportation—so that all citizens can equally enjoy quality of life and opportunities, regardless of region.

Additionally, the amendment seeks to change the official title of the Constitution, which is currently written in Chinese characters, to the Korean script as "Daehanminguk Heonbeop" (대한민국헌법).

With the amendment now proposed in the National Assembly, the subsequent steps will be the President’s public notice of the amendment (for at least 20 days), approval by the National Assembly (within 60 days of the President’s notice), and a national referendum (within 30 days after Assembly approval). In order to hold the referendum together with the local elections, the National Assembly must approve the amendment bill by April 10 of next month.

For the amendment to pass, at least two-thirds of all 295 Assembly members, or at least 197 members, must vote in favor. This requires at least 10 lawmakers from the People Power Party, who did not participate in the proposal, to break ranks.

Regarding the People Power Party’s absence from the proposal, Speaker Woo said, "There are some in the People Power Party who have said that constitutional reform is necessary, but it seems they felt it was too burdensome to participate in the proposal."

He added, "There is still considerable time and public opinion is still forming, so we are moving forward with the proposal in a spirit of patience."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.