"Presidential Consecutive Term is the People's Choice"... Cho Jung-sik Fires the Starting Gun for 'Next Year's Constitutional Amendment Golden Time'

Driving the '10th Constitutional Amendment' 40 years after the '87 system... Official launch of the Speaker's advisory committee
"2027 is the optimal timing with no nationwide elections"... Full-scale restructuring of power structure including 'Presidential Consecutive Term'
Building a digital platform for direct public participation... "We will push ahead boldly and with a sense of speed"

National Assembly Speaker Cho Jung-sik defined next year—marking 40 years since the 1987 constitutional amendment—as the "golden time for the 10th constitutional amendment" and drove a full-scale restructuring of the power structure. In particular, regarding the "incumbent president's consecutive term system," which is the most contentious issue of the amendment, he expressed his will for a frontal breakthrough by stating, "Ultimately, it is a matter of choice for the people as sovereigns," causing ripples in the political sphere.

At a press conference held at Sarangjae in the National Assembly on the 28th, Speaker Cho officially declared, "We will launch the Speaker's direct 'Constitutional Amendment Advisory Committee' to put discussions on the constitutional amendment on track next year."

By far, the most notable parts of Speaker Cho's announcement on this day were the "presidential consecutive term system" and the "timing of implementation." Mentioning the reform of the power structure, which is the core of the amendment, Speaker Cho stated, "The issue of the incumbent president serving consecutive terms is ultimately a matter of choice for the people as sovereigns and a matter of agreement among various political actors," adding, "Opinions will be gathered in earnest through the Constitutional Amendment Advisory Committee or the Special Committee on Constitutional Amendment," thus bringing the discussion on the consecutive term amendment into the public sphere.

Regarding the reason for picking next year as the optimal time for the amendment, Speaker Cho emphasized, "Next year marks exactly 40 years since the 9th constitutional amendment in 1987, and 2027 is the optimal golden time to achieve the amendment given that there are no nationwide elections." He added, "By gathering bipartisan consensus over the next year and a half, we will neither rush nor drag our feet, simultaneously pursuing dialogue, compromise, and a high-speed strategy."

Plans for forming a national consensus were also presented. Speaker Cho revealed a plan to build a web- and application-based "digital constitutional amendment platform" to create a venue for collective intelligence where citizens can directly propose and discuss constitutional amendment agendas.

Meanwhile, Speaker Cho announced that he would designate December 3rd, the day the emergency martial law was declared in 2024, as "National Sovereignty Day." Regarding the Democratic Party's current push to "abolish supplementary investigation rights," which is a political detonator in the National Assembly, he maintained a cautious stance, stating, "Supplementary measures are needed so that there are no victims."