[Reporter’s Notebook] Three Tears and the Unfinished Task

President Lee Jaemyung, Democratic Party of Korea leader Jung Chungrae, and National Assembly Speaker Woo Wonsik coincidentally shed tears on the same day. President Lee was moved to tears in front of the parents of fallen police officers and firefighters on May 8, Jung became emotional while recalling the memory of the illegal 12·3 emergency martial law, and Speaker Woo’s eyes welled up in the National Assembly main chamber, where the constitutional amendment proposal has stalled.

Tears of politicians carry a message. Although the places and circumstances differed, each of these three scenes posed important questions: How far should the state take responsibility? How should power be kept in check? What is the duty of the National Assembly?

For the first time as a sitting president, President Lee attended the Parents’ Day ceremony and was unable to speak for a while as he faced the parents of fallen police officers and firefighters. “I know all too well that no words can fully console the sorrow of parents who had to send their beloved child before them,” he said. After stepping down from the podium, he repeatedly wiped away his tears. This gesture went beyond the comfort offered by the nation’s highest authority; it was a promise pointing to a nation that remembers and honors sacrifice.

Jung, at an on-site Supreme Council meeting held at the Seoul Songpa-gu mayoral candidate’s campaign office, referred to a Yeonpyeongdo detention facility mentioned in the notebook of former Defense Intelligence Commander Noh Sangwon. He said, “It shouldn’t be like this,” and was unable to continue speaking. He reflected that, had martial law succeeded, both he and President Lee could have been dragged to the detention facility. This scene highlighted what could happen when state power escapes constitutional control.

At the National Assembly, Speaker Woo wiped away tears as he left the podium after declaring the suspension of the procedures for the “June 3 Constitutional Amendment National Referendum.” His sorrow reflected disappointment that, with the People Power Party announcing an unlimited debate (filibuster), the opportunity for constitutional revision for the first time in 39 years had slipped away. The Assembly failed to achieve even the so-called “minimum constitutional amendment”—including the spirit of the Busan-Masan Democratic Uprising and the 5·18 Democratization Movement in the preamble, strengthening parliamentary control over the president’s emergency martial law powers, and codifying the state’s responsibility for balanced regional development.

The tears of politicians are always subject to interpretation, and are sometimes dismissed as theatrics. However, on that day, the tears of these three leaders were far removed from political rhetoric. The first set of tears underlined the responsibility the state owes to its people; the second served as a warning that state power, if unchecked, can threaten its citizens; and the third revealed the reality of a National Assembly that has stalled, failing to institutionalize responsibility and checks on power. Though the scenes were different, together they showed the current state of the nation and pointed to the urgent need for institutional answers.

The tears of politicians alone cannot serve as an answer. Only when the meaning of these tears is translated into constitutional and legal grounds, and is reflected in policies and systems, can it truly reach and serve the people. This is why we cannot let precious time slip by with these urgent and critical unresolved issues left unaddressed.

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