Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon on Tuesday accused the government of preparing a constitutional amendment to allow President Lee Jae Myung to serve a second term as a contingency in case efforts to drop criminal charges against the president fall through, calling it a path toward dictatorship. Han is seen leaving the plenary session of the National Assembly's budget and accounts committee on Friday. [Yonhap]
Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon on Tuesday accused the government of preparing a constitutional amendment to allow President Lee Jae Myung to serve a second term as a contingency in case efforts to drop criminal charges against the president fall through, calling it a path toward dictatorship. Han is seen leaving the plenary session of the National Assembly's budget and accounts committee on Friday. [Yonhap]

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon on Tuesday accused the government of preparing a constitutional amendment to allow President Lee Jae Myung to seek a second term, warning it was a step toward dictatorship, should efforts to drop criminal charges against Lee fail.

Han shared on his Facebook page that day remarks made by National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik at his first press conference since taking office, in which Cho suggested that whether a sitting president could run for re-election under a revised constitution was "ultimately the people's choice as sovereign."

Han said the Lee government was preparing "Plan B — constitutional reform for Lee Jae Myung's re-election" as a fallback in case "Plan A — dropping Lee Jae Myung's criminal charges" became untenable.

Han went on to say the government was "focused solely on saving Lee Jae Myung rather than the lives of the people, whether the judicial system collapses, the stock market is ruined, or the real estate market crumbles," calling it a "destruction of the constitutional order on par with the illegal martial law."

He added that it was "an absolutely unacceptable path to dictatorship" and said conservatives must rebuild, win a landslide in the next general election and reclaim power to set things right.

At his inaugural press conference at the National Assembly that day, Speaker Cho gave a carefully ambiguous answer when asked about opposition objections to constitutional reform on the grounds that it could extend Lee's term. "Isn't it premature to be making all these arguments?" Cho said. "On the question of restructuring the power system, whether a sitting president can seek re-election under a revised constitution is ultimately the sovereign people's choice."

Cho added that the issue "must be agreed upon by various political stakeholders," and that the question of a sitting president's re-election eligibility "will become an issue in any constitutional amendment proposal — won't opinions be gathered through an advisory committee or a special committee on constitutional reform?"

The current Constitution, in Article 128 of Chapter 10, explicitly states: "Any constitutional amendment aimed at extending the term of the incumbent president or allowing re-election shall not take effect with respect to the president in office at the time the amendment is proposed."


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