Constitutional Amendment Fails to Pass National Assembly... Blue House Expresses Regret Over Unestablished Vote, Urges Opposition Lawmakers to Participate

The Blue House expressed regret over the failure of the constitutional amendment bill to pass the National Assembly’s plenary session.

On December 29, 2025, as President Lee Jae-myung commuted to the Blue House, officially marking the start of the Blue House era again after 3 years and 7 months, the phoenix flag was raised at the Blue House in Seoul. Photo by Jo Yongjun

Kang Yoo-jung, Chief Spokesperson for the Blue House, stated during a briefing on May 7, "Constitutional amendment is a promise to the people," adding, "We express sadness and regret that the vote could not be established due to members of the National Assembly refusing to participate."

She continued, "Since another plenary session will be convened tomorrow, People Power Party lawmakers, as members of a constitutional body, must participate in the vote with a sense of responsibility," and added, "We will consider options within the legal and institutional framework to accomplish the constitutional amendment."

On this day, the National Assembly held a plenary session to vote on the constitutional amendment bill, but the vote could not be established due to the absence of People Power Party lawmakers. National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik announced, "The number of lawmakers who voted did not reach the required two-thirds quorum of sitting members; thus, the vote on this bill is not valid." Only 178 lawmakers participated in the vote, falling short of the required 191.

Speaker Woo said, "This is the first constitutional amendment in 39 years, and I am deeply sorry to the public that the vote could not be established at the National Assembly before proceeding to a national referendum," adding, "The intention was to amend the Constitution so that such suffering and chaos as that caused by the imposition of emergency martial law would never happen again, but the vote did not take place."

The amendment bill included strengthening the requirements for emergency martial law, the inclusion of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement and the Busan-Masan Uprising in the preamble, and promoting balanced regional development. Speaker Woo stated, "If we fail to establish constitutional safeguards and another incident like December 3 occurs, then all of us in the 22nd National Assembly will be judged by history as wrongdoers." He added, "I will convene another plenary session at 2 p.m. on the 8th," and urged, "I ask People Power Party lawmakers to consider participating in this vote."

Previously, Speaker Woo had encouraged People Power Party lawmakers to attend the vote, stating, "This vote is a procedure to ask the people’s will regarding the constitutional amendment," and criticized, "To eliminate the opportunity for the public to directly vote on the amendment is to overstep the authority entrusted by the people." He said, "Opposing the amendment and not participating in the vote are two different matters," and emphasized, "As representatives of the people, you must judge and exercise your voting rights responsibly."

The People Power Party is highly likely to respond to the plenary session on the 8th by maintaining its party policy of opposition and by not participating in the vote. When asked by reporters whether they would also boycott the plenary session if held tomorrow, Kwon Kyu-taek, Chief Deputy Spokesperson of the People Power Party, replied, "That is highly likely." To the question of whether any lawmakers at the People Power Party’s general meeting advocated for entering the plenary chamber, he answered, "There were none at all."

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