Park Byeong-seok, Speaker of the National Assembly: "Ruling and Opposition Parties, State Your Positions on Constitutional Amendment... Challenges Include Power Decentralization and Fundamental Rights"

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[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seok has urged the political sphere to initiate discussions on constitutional amendments and requested that leaders of both ruling and opposition parties clarify their positions.

At a press conference marking his first anniversary in office on the 21st, Speaker Park stated, "It is the political sphere's mission to open the door to constitutional amendments," adding, "Recent opinion polls show that expert groups and the majority of the public support constitutional reform. Moreover, several prominent politicians have also emphasized the need for amendments."

He continued, "A decision must be made. If we fail to decide this time, it means dragging along an outdated constitution from the era of a $3,000 national income for more than 40 years. I request that political leaders from both ruling and opposition parties, as well as all political parties, clarify their stance on constitutional amendments and be subject to public evaluation."

He also suggested the first half of next year as the timeframe for constitutional reform. Speaker Park said, "Coincidentally, the leadership of both ruling and opposition parties has been reorganized simultaneously," and added, "I hope each party recognizes the urgency of constitutional amendments and initiates public discourse. If the ruling and opposition parties reach an agreement, we can certainly use the political schedule in the first half of next year to unlock the path to constitutional reform."

He explained 'integration' as the justification for constitutional amendments. Diagnosing that "our society will find it difficult to move forward without structurally resolving polarization and conflicts," he urged, "The political sphere should take the lead in establishing a foundation for grand compromise between generations and social classes."

He also identified power concentration as the biggest cause of social conflict. Speaker Park stated, "Power must be divided. When divided, politics should grow stronger. Let us open the way to national unity through power decentralization."

He went on to say, "The social conflict index in our country is among the most severe in the world. To transform the national resources wasted on conflicts into energy for future prosperity, we must embed a new spirit of the times suited to current realities in the constitution." He added, "This includes social basic rights, decentralization, and responses to climate change."

He views the constitutional system revised in 1987 as no longer suitable for the current situation. Speaker Park said, "The current constitution was amended during the industrialization period when the national income was about one-tenth of today's level," and added, "It cannot reflect the spirit of the times today, which has entered the Fourth Industrial Revolution era after industrialization and informatization."

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