Experts Support Four Year Term Reappointment for President

The National Assembly’s meeting to study constitutional amendments has begun, which is accelerating the discussion on a constitutional amendment. Under such circumstances, three out of four constitutional experts are found to support the reappointment of president, whose tenure is presently four years.

This result was from poll results from 152 members of the Korean Public Law Association (chairman: Yang Geon). The association is planning to hold a forum on July 1 titled, “How to view a constitutional amendment.”

The Korean Public Law Association is a gathering of scholars majoring in public law, including Constitution and Administrative Law. This is the first time that constitutional experts have revealed their opinion through a poll.

According to the poll, 51 percent (or 77 out of 151 respondents) support the necessity of constitutional amendments, while 48 percent (or 73 respondents) are against it.

About the constitutional amendment, 76 percent of public law scholars (or 107 out of 141 respondents) supported the president’s four-year reappointment. Only 23 percent (or 32 respondents) supported maintaining the current five-year tenure.

In addition, only 10 percent (or 15 of 148 respondents) said that Article Three of the constitution stipulates that the territory of the Republic of Korea shall consist of the Korean peninsula and its adjacent islands.

Soo-Hyung Lee sooh@donga.com