President Lee Jae Myung announced on the 14th that "the presidential term should be changed to a four-year term or a four-year two-term system to enable responsible politics through interim evaluation." It also reaffirmed its existing position that it can be accepted if it is necessary to shorten the term of office for constitutional amendment.

On the same day, President Lee said on X (formerly Twitter), "It is desirable for the National Assembly to set the details by agreement between the ruling and opposition parties, but my position on the contents of the amendment remains unchanged." In particular, he stressed that some of the president's powers should be handed over to the National Assembly over the reorganization of the power structure.

President Lee explained, "The pledge and consistent position is to adjust the presidential and parliamentary powers by handing over some of the presidential powers, such as the jurisdiction of the Board of Audit and Inspection, the right to recommend the prime minister, and the right to personnel to the National Assembly, and to change the term to a four-year, two-term system to enable responsible politics, and to strengthen local autonomy and basic rights of the people."

He drew a line on the constitutional amendment of the decentralized presidential system, including the cabinet system. President Lee said, "The parliamentary system or the cabinet system is neither desirable nor possible in light of public opinion," adding, "It is a misunderstanding that it is a decentralized presidential system or a cabinet system to disperse some of the president's powers to the National Assembly and others."

However, even if the constitutional amendment becomes a reality, it is not expected to apply to the incumbent President Lee. Article 128, Paragraph 2 of the Constitution stipulates that 'a constitutional amendment to extend or change the term of office of the president is not effective for the president at the time of the proposal'. Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik also made it clear that it is "realistically" impossible to serve a second term as an incumbent president.

Cheong Wa Dae is in the position that discussions on constitutional amendment should take place first at the National Assembly. A key Cheong Wa Dae official told reporters on the same day, "President Lee's principle is that the revision needs to be agreed upon," adding, "It is desirable to discuss and promote the revision at the National Assembly because it requires consent from more than 200 seats in the National Assembly."

[Reporter SUNG SEUNG HUN]