Broad Democratic and Progressive Camps Criticize Speaker Cho's Remarks on Presidential Term Extension Amendment as "Testing the Waters" and "Reckless"

Innovation Party: "Speaker Cho, smoke without fire... Public opinion probing is inappropriate"

Speaker of the National Assembly Cho Jeong-sik’s remarks that “a constitutional amendment to allow the incumbent president’s re-election is a matter for the people to decide” have also drawn strong criticism from within the broadly democratic and progressive camps.

Speaker of the National Assembly, Chung Jin-sik, is drinking water during his first press conference held on the 28th at Sarangjae, the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News Agency National Assembly Photojournalists Team

On July 29, the Progressive Innovation Party issued a commentary, strongly criticizing Speaker Cho’s remarks, likening them to "smoke rising from a chimney where there is no fire."

Lim Myunghee, spokesperson for the Innovation Party, stated, “Speaker Cho sparked controversy by saying that a constitutional amendment for the incumbent president’s re-election is a matter of popular choice, then belatedly clarified that it is not a subject for constitutional discussion. During last year’s National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee’s parliamentary audit, Jo Woncheol, the chief of the Korea Legislation Research Institute, made a similar statement. It is only natural for the public to harbor doubts,” she pointed out.

She continued, “Even Woo Wonshik, the former Speaker of the National Assembly, who was more committed to constitutional revision than anyone, has emphasized that an amendment allowing the incumbent president to serve consecutive terms is impossible based on Article 128 of the Constitution. The Speaker, who should be a stabilizing force in the National Assembly, should not be testing public opinion,” she said.

She further added, “There must be no mistakes that damage the dignity of the Speaker of the National Assembly. We will do our best to ensure that constitutional revision is by the people and for the people.”

The Progressive Party also criticized Speaker Cho’s remarks as “careless comments unbecoming of the head of the legislative body.” Roh Jeonghyeon, the party’s chief spokesperson, said in a briefing at the National Assembly that, “In a situation where the sincerity of constitutional amendment efforts is being questioned, it must be made absolutely clear once again that a change to allow two consecutive terms cannot be applied to the incumbent president. Comments that cause unnecessary misunderstanding and controversy do not help the constitutional revision debate,” he stressed.

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