President Moon Raises 'Constitutional Amendment' "Including May 18 in the Preamble, Absolutely..."

청 "No Intention to Re-Promote Presidential Constitutional Amendment"... President Moon Mentions "Parliament's Role" in New Year's Press Conference

President Moon Jae-in

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] President Moon Jae-in stated regarding the inclusion of the spirit of the May 18 Democratic Movement in the preamble of the Constitution, "If constitutional amendment is discussed again, its intent must be revived." Although he used the conditional phrase "if discussed," implying he does not intend to directly re-push a presidential constitutional amendment proposal, he emphasized once again the necessity of revising the preamble considering its constitutional value.

Ahead of the 40th anniversary of the May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising, in an interview with Gwangju MBC held at Sangchunjae on the 12th, President Moon said, "Since there was a long period of military dictatorship after April 19, the preamble of the Constitution revised in 1987 is somewhat insufficient to explain our country's democratization movement," adding, "The May 18 Democratic Movement and the June Struggle must be included in the Constitution for the history of our democratization movement to be properly expressed and for national unity to be achieved." This is the first time President Moon has mentioned constitutional amendment in an official setting since the ruling party's landslide victory in the April 15 general election.

The Blue House explained that this does not mean the government intends to directly push for constitutional amendment. Constitutional amendment was a campaign pledge of President Moon, and he actually prepared a presidential constitutional amendment proposal early in his term, which was submitted in March 2018 but was discarded due to failure to hold a vote in the National Assembly.

At the New Year's press conference in January, President Moon expressed regret over the failure of the presidential amendment proposal, calling it "very unfortunate," but also stated, "I think it is now difficult for the president to have the driving force to push for constitutional amendment again."

However, given that the ruling party holds an overwhelming majority of seats, the constitutional amendment agenda could be reignited at any time. President Moon also said, "If constitutional amendment is necessary, reviving the driving force is now the responsibility of the National Assembly," adding, "If constitutional amendment gains support even in the next National Assembly, it could be pursued."

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