President Lee: "December 3 to Be Designated as 'People’s Sovereignty Day'"

Message for the 78th Constitution Day: "Preserving the Records of the Revolution of Light"

"Democracy Must Be Protected through Civic Participation, Courage, and Solidarity"

On July 17, President Lee Jae-myung announced that December 3 will be designated as ‘National Sovereignty Day’ each year, in commemoration of the 78th anniversary of Constitution Day. He described the actions of citizens who blocked the December 3 Martial Law in 2024 as the ‘Revolution of Light’ and unveiled plans to collect and preserve related records at the national level to inform future generations and the world.

Certificate of Appreciation attached by President Lee Jae-myung on Facebook on the 17th. (Source: Facebook of President Lee Jae-myung)

In his post titled, “To the Great People of Korea Who Protected Democracy,” uploaded to Facebook on the same day, President Lee stated, “The government of national sovereignty will ensure that this great history is remembered and carried on,” and added, “We will ensure that the significance and spirit of that day can be fully inherited by the next generation.”

President Lee emphasized, “On this day in 1948, the Republic of Korea promulgated its Constitution, declaring that the citizens are the true owners of this country.” He continued, “The principle that ‘sovereignty of the Republic of Korea resides with the people and all power comes from the people’ has served as the compass guiding our democratic republic for the past 78 years.”

He also stated, “Modern Korean history has been a fierce struggle in which the people themselves have defended their sovereignty against forces seeking to undermine constitutional values, democracy, and to privatize power.” He stressed, “Democracy is not something guaranteed forever after being won once; it must be continuously protected through the participation, courage, and solidarity of citizens.”

In particular, President Lee described the December 3 Martial Law as “an incident that served as a reminder that threats to democracy are not a thing of the past—they can be repeated in Korea at any time, even today.” He added, “Yet, the great people of Korea proved to the world through the ‘Revolution of Light’ that the spirit of national sovereignty engraved in the Constitution is a living force in our lives.”

President Lee described plans to systematically collect and preserve records related to the ‘Revolution of Light’ so that “K-democracy can widely spread as a model for democracy around the world.” He also explained that he launched the ‘Light Committee,’ a presidential advisory body aimed at commemorating the spirit and process through which citizens protected the Constitution and democracy during the December 3 Martial Law, and at spreading this spirit domestically and internationally.

President Lee also released a certificate of appreciation to be delivered to attendees of the Constitution Day citizens’ invitational event. The certificate featured a blank space so that citizens could write their names and keep it themselves.

President Lee said, “Although I wish I could hand these personally to everyone who defended democracy, I send my gratitude through this photo instead. I hope each of you will write your names and cherish it.” He continued, “I will never forget the citizens who spent the night under a single emergency blanket on the cold winter asphalt, the young people who guarded the front of the National Assembly in preparation for further martial law, and the people who ran to Namtaeryeong to extend a hand of solidarity with the farmers. I am truly grateful.”

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