President Lee Jae Myung speaks at a senior presidential secretary meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung speaks at a senior presidential secretary meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday. [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae Myung has signaled he would be willing to cut short his own term to push through a constitutional reform shifting South Korea toward a power-sharing system, drawing intense attention across the political spectrum. It marks the first time since taking office that Lee has directly raised the possibility of curtailing his own term. The remarks, made at a private golf gathering with senior opposition lawmakers, have raised questions about whether they could spark formal cross-party talks on constitutional reform.

According to political sources Friday, Lee held a golf outing in early July with a group of ruling and opposition lawmakers, including four-term People Power Party lawmaker Kim Tae-ho. At the gathering, Lee was quoted as saying, "I think constitutional reform must be done, even if it means shortening my term." Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik was also present, sources said.

This is not the first time Lee has floated the idea of a shortened term. During the 2022 presidential election, he proposed a constitutional amendment introducing a four-year renewable term and mentioned cutting the current term by one year to align presidential and general election cycles. He repeated the campaign pledge for a four-year renewable term during last year's presidential election as well.

However, in May last year he was more guarded on the subject, saying, "The question of the term length for the person who bears ultimate responsibility for the state needs to be considered carefully." His latest remarks represent the first time since his inauguration that he has directly indicated a willingness to pursue constitutional reform even at the cost of his own term.

Lee also appeared to draw a line against concerns in political circles that constitutional reform could be a vehicle for extending his own rule. At the golf meeting, he was quoted as saying, "Would talk of dictatorship or re-election really fly with the Korean public?" He added, "Constitutional amendment requires a quorum in the National Assembly — if the PPP opposes it, it won't pass, so if that were my intention, wouldn't that mean reform simply couldn't happen?"

The meeting took place before National Assembly Speaker Jo Jeong-sik's remarks on allowing re-election sparked controversy. Lee had also played golf in June with Joo Ho-young, a seven-term lawmaker who served as first-half speaker pro tempore of the 22nd National Assembly, and Park Deok-heum, a four-term lawmaker currently serving as deputy speaker, exchanging views on key issues. Assembly Speaker Jo also attended that gathering.

The two parties viewed the repeated golf outings differently. Within the Democratic Party, the prevailing view was that the meetings reflected an effort to broaden contact with senior opposition figures.

A senior Democratic Party official said Lee was "trying to meet with senior opposition lawmakers and work toward smoother relations between the ruling and opposition parties," adding that the meetings "were not held solely to advance constitutional reform."

Another official said, "The president has put the issue on the table, and once the opposition agrees, efforts will be needed to build public consensus." The official added that Lee's position against seeking re-election was "so self-evident that there was no need to state it explicitly."

The PPP leadership, by contrast, showed signs of unease over the president reaching out to individual lawmakers rather than the party leadership. Calls also emerged for Lee to publicly declare that he would not seek re-election before any constitutional reform discussions could proceed.

Choi Eun-seok, the PPP's floor spokesperson, told reporters after a floor strategy meeting Friday that if the meetings did in fact take place, he found it "regrettable that the focus was placed on individual lawmakers." He said that for Cheong Wa Dae to sustain meaningful communication with the opposition, "President Lee Jae Myung must publicly and clearly state his position on the dismissal of his trial and on constitutional reform allowing re-election."

A PPP leadership official said the party had reached a point where it "no longer sees a need for dialogue" with Lee, citing the administration's push to abolish supplementary investigative powers despite PPP objections and what the official described as concerns over Lee's mortgage arrangements. The official said that while Lee had raised the subject of constitutional reform, "he has yet to officially state that re-election is off the table," with party leader Jang Dong-hyeok among those who share that view.

Meanwhile, Cheong Wa Dae declined to issue a separate statement, citing the confidential nature of the president's private schedule.


mp1256@heraldcorp.com
addressh@heraldcorp.com