South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Monday proposed amending the country’s constitution to allow for multiple presidential terms, citing difficulties in maintaining consistent policies over issues like North Korea.The Presidency in South Korea is currently limited to one, five-year term, a measure originally added to the constitution in 1987 after decades of military dictatorship.“The constitution on a five-year single term presidency may have been appropriate in the past during democratization… But now it has turned into a jacket that does not fit,” President Park said while addressing parliament in Seoul, in comments carried by AFP.
Park added that a special committee would be created to discuss amending the constitution and implementing the changes. Any amendments must first pass South Korea’s National Assembly by a majority of two-thirds, and then be decided by national referendum.The South Korean President added that allowing future presidents to serve multiple terms could help make North Korea policy more consistent.“One would think policy continuity would be good for inter-Korean relations,” Chris Green, North Korea expert and PhD researcher at the University of Leiden told NK News. “But from the perspective of a dictatorship whose three rulers to date have held power for 49, 17, and 5 years respectively, I don’t think it will make much difference.”“I think it could give the President a greater mandate and credibility in North Korea policy,” Daniel Pinkston from Troy University added.While Park’s proposal was welcomed by members of her own Saenuri party, some lawmakers from the opposition said the President was looking to draw attention away from an unfolding corruption scandal.“We cannot agree to have discussions on constitutional revisions that would help hide the unfolding corruption scandals,” Rep. Youn Kwan-suk from the Democratic party said, in comments reported by Yonhap news.South Korea’s Presidential Office also added that any changes to the constitution would only apply to future presidents and that Park would not be running for a second term.The President is the daughter of the late Park Chung-hee, a military general who lead the country for nearly 17 years.“She said (the current system) was right for the democratization era but now, 30 years later, it doesn’t fit. She’s right,” Green said. “But this is the daughter of Park Chung-hee suggesting that the current system be scrapped. The optics aren’t great.”
Source:NKNews
