Lee Nak-yeon Raises Consecutive Constitutional Amendment Proposals... Following Strengthening of Citizens' Basic Rights, Now Suggests Revival of 'Three Land Public Concept Laws'

At the Basic Rights Constitutional Amendment Forum on the 8th... "To be pursued with the start of the next president's term"
34 years after the 9th amendment... Need for constitutional amendment to strengthen basic rights and reduce inequality
New rights such as life, safety, housing, and information proposed, along with lowering the presidential eligibility age

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Lee Nak-yeon, former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea who advocated for a constitutional amendment to strengthen the basic rights of the people, has now made a sudden proposal for a constitutional amendment to revive the so-called 'Three Land Public Concept Laws,' including the Land Ownership Limit Act, the Land Excess Profit Tax Act, and the Development Profit Recovery Act.

On the 8th, Lee attended the 'Basic Rights Constitutional Amendment Forum for Guaranteeing the People's Right to Pursue Happiness' held at the Irum Center in Yeouido, Seoul, and stated, "We must improve the unfairness and inequality arising from land and strengthen the state's responsibility for housing welfare," emphasizing the necessity of a constitutional amendment to strengthen and actualize the land public concept. The idea is to use the increased tax revenue collected through the land public concept to supply housing more affordably to the homeless.

He said, "The land public concept is only declaratively stipulated in Article 23, Paragraph 3, and Article 122 of the current Constitution, and various laws and policies to implement it have been stalled and obstructed."

Former Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Nak-yeon is attending the K-Security Forum inaugural seminar held at the Marina Convention Center in Yeouido, Seoul on the 7th, delivering a congratulatory speech. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

He continued, "The Land Ownership Limit Act, which restricts the mass ownership of land that will not be developed, was ruled unconstitutional; the Land Excess Profit Tax Act, which levies taxes on part of the increase in land value of unused land, was declared unconstitutional; and the Development Profit Recovery Act, which recovers part of the profits from land development, has been continuously attacked as unconstitutional," explaining the need to revive the three land public concept laws.

Lee emphasized the need to expand the land public concept as a measure to resolve inequality, saying, "Our society is becoming more polarized due to widening income gaps, and while labor income disparities are increasing, the expansion of asset income disparities is severe globally."

He added, "Even if the excessive parts of the past three laws are adjusted, I hope the purpose of the public concept is properly preserved," and stressed, "I propose to include the content and meaning of the land public concept in the Constitution and legislate the 'Three Land Public Concept Laws' without controversy."

Meanwhile, the Three Land Public Concept Laws were introduced by the Roh Tae-woo administration in 1989 and implemented for several years, but the Land Excess Profit Tax Act was declared unconstitutional in 1994, and the Land Ownership Limit Act was declared unconstitutional in 1999.

Previously, Lee proposed not only the establishment of the people's right to life, safety, housing, and basic information rights but also newly defined rights for children, the elderly, the disabled, and consumers, as well as the expansion and strengthening of existing environmental rights, labor rights, and education rights. In particular, he repeatedly proposed lowering the eligibility age for presidential candidates to 40 and for members of the National Assembly, local government heads, and local council members to 25 to expand youth political participation and political reform.

Regarding the background of proposing this constitutional amendment to strengthen the land public concept and the basic rights of the people, Lee explained, "It has been 34 years since the 9th constitutional amendment in 1987. During that time, political democracy has been completed, but people's lives have increasingly been exposed to problems not covered by the 1987 Constitution," adding, "The new Constitution should aim to complete socio-economic democracy by strengthening the people's basic rights and reducing inequality."

He added, "For such a constitutional amendment to succeed, the next president must push for the amendment at the start of their term. To do that, preparations and promotion must begin now together with the people."

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