Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok. [Yonhap]
Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok. [Yonhap]

Two in three Koreans oppose applying a proposed four-year renewable presidential term to the sitting president, a new poll shows. A majority also oppose the constitutional reform itself.

The Reform Institute, the Reform Party's policy research arm, released the survey results Wednesday. It found that 64.7 percent of respondents opposed changing the current constitutional provision — which bars the sitting president at the time of any amendment from benefiting from new term rules — to allow the incumbent to seek reelection. Some 32.5 percent were in favor.

Opposition to applying the new term rules to the sitting president was the majority view across all age groups. Respondents aged 18 to 29 recorded the highest opposition rate at 91.3 percent, followed by those in their 30s (67.6 percent), those 70 and older (63.4 percent), those in their 60s (62.8 percent) and those in their 40s (59.3 percent). Even among those in their 50s — the only age group where support for a four-year renewable term outweighed opposition — a majority still opposed applying the new rules to the sitting president, with 50.0 percent against and 46.6 percent in favor.

On the broader question of amending the constitution to replace the current single five-year presidential term with a four-year renewable term, opposition also prevailed at 55.2 percent against 42.5 percent in favor. Opposition was the majority view in every age group except those in their 50s, with the 18-to-29 cohort again recording the highest opposition rate at 81.7 percent.

A majority also opposed pushing ahead with full-scale constitutional reform discussions starting next year, with 52.9 percent against and 43.3 percent in favor.

Cross-tabulation showed that even among respondents who supported the four-year renewable term amendment, a significant share drew the line at applying it to the sitting president. Of those who backed the reform, 71.9 percent also supported applying it to the incumbent, while the remainder either opposed or were undecided on that question despite supporting the amendment itself.

Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok said two in three Koreans opposed a constitutional change that would open the door to reelection for the sitting president. "The moment constitutional reform is suspected of being a tool to extend political power, it loses public consent," he said.

Lee added that opposition was particularly overwhelming among younger generations. "If the ruling party and the government truly want constitutional reform, they must first lock in an explicit exclusion of the sitting president before building broader public consensus," he said.

The survey was conducted Wednesday on behalf of the Reform Institute using an automated response system with random digit dialing, covering 508 men and women aged 18 and older nationwide. The response rate was 3.78 percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.


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