[Editorial] National Assembly Speaker Undermines Trust in Constitutional Amendment

The remarks made by National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik during a press briefing on July 28—stating that "the issue of constitutional amendment for a sitting president's re-election ultimately depends on public opinion and the sovereign choice of the people"—are astounding. This statement blatantly contradicts common sense. Article 128, Clause 2 of the Constitution stipulates, "A constitutional amendment for the extension of the presidential term or a change in term limits shall not apply to the incumbent president at the time of the proposal." This clause was introduced during the democratization process as a safeguard to prevent long-term dictatorship or term extension.

It is questionable whether Speaker Cho’s comment was simply an offhand mistake. The remarks were made during an exchange of questions and answers at the press briefing, and his subsequent clarification—"the re-election of the sitting president is not a subject of constitutional amendment discussions"—was only posted close to midnight. If it had been a mere slip, Speaker Cho would have clarified immediately, which he did not. Even in his statement, he only said, "Re-election of the incumbent president is not subject to constitutional amendment discussions," without stating his position clearly.

Expressing "regret that the remarks caused misunderstanding and controversy, contrary to my intention" falls far short of a proper apology. There have already been suspicions regarding Speaker Cho’s political neutrality, given that he has been called the "pro-Myeong figurehead" and previously served as political affairs special adviser to the president. Article 20, Clause 2 of the National Assembly Act stipulates that the Speaker must relinquish party affiliation the day after election, in order to maintain neutrality and facilitate smooth operation of the Assembly. Speaker Cho also left the Democratic Party immediately after being elected Speaker on June 5. However, through this incident, he has undermined his own authority as head of the legislature.

Difficulties are expected even for the constitutional amendment, which Speaker Cho has described as having next year as its "golden time." Approval of a constitutional amendment requires 200 seats, or two-thirds of all lawmakers. Without the consent of the People Power Party, which holds 109 seats, passage is unlikely. Instead of just saying he 'regrets' the incident at the microphone, Speaker Cho should apologize to the public. He needs to acknowledge that his remarks at the press briefing were inappropriate, reaffirm that re-election of the incumbent president is excluded from the agenda, and that bipartisan consensus is a prerequisite. What will truly make next year the golden time for constitutional amendment is not speed, but the Speaker’s neutrality.

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