[Opinion] Put Blames for Fault on the Constitution?

How to create proud Korea and Koreans? On the one hand, it is an issue of how we develop our country, and on the other hand, it is an issue of how we educate each person who consists Korea.

Korean constitution is the best authoritative document and blueprint that describes the vision, aim, and direction of Korea, which we want to establish. Therefore, while the constitution is the supreme law that regulates all Koreans, at the same time it is a blueprint that wonderfully articulates the educational aim for the democratic citizens. Our enjoyment of democracy and economic wealth is due to the constitution. One should read at least the preamble of the constitution.

“…based on peaceful unification, …, autonomy, and harmony, strengthen the fundamental order of the liberal democracy to provide equal opportunity to each person in all areas, such as politics, economy, society, and culture, to develop one`s highest ability, and to accomplish one`s responsibilities and duties according to one`s freedom and rights for the sake of the equal improvement of people`s life, the peaceful world, and the common development of the human beings …” If we accomplish the ideals and aims of the constitution, Korea will become a country that all other countries envy.

When people establish a country, they gather their wills, declare their ideals, aims, and directions, pledge their keeping of them. It is a constitution. However, among the advanced countries, Korea might be the only one in which its constitution is mistreated.

Politicians have not been accepted the constitution as means of freedom, equality, and prosperity, but they have been treated it as a restrictive and repressive device. Therefore, if there was a wrong thing, they blamed the constitution and have changed it. Still, there is a discussion of the revision of the constitution.

The commonality of the people of the advanced democratic nations, such as England, America, and France, is to consider their constitutions as sacred and to try to keep them. Although England has no written constitution, it keeps what it has to follow.

Americans have been added 27 revised articles to the constitution without changing any characters of the original constitution. Because the first 10 articles were introduced when the constitution came into effect, only 17 revised articles have been added during 200 years. Comparing to Korean cases, the revisions were not related to the government structures and they were relatively unimportant ones. According to the constitution, American presidential election is an indirect election, but the Americans are running the system like a direct election in custom. Revision is not the best solution, management mind is more important. In America, when one obtains citizenship, one has to memorize or read the constitution. The French still consider the human right declaration in 1789 as their constitution.

People`s attitudes of caring and loving their constitution develop through public and social education. When the love and knowledge on the constitution become an exclusive possession of the experts on the constitution, it is not healthy. The love and knowledge on the constitution should become a part of the education for the democratic citizens.

In the past, the government printed its declarations, such as the charter of national education, on the back pages of the government designated textbooks. Now, at least the preamble of the constitution should be printed on the back pages of the textbooks for the elementary school students. In addition, the junior high and high school students should receive an education on the constitution as an education to become democratic citizens according to their levels. At the same time, the whole constitution must be included in their textbooks at least as an appendix.

Furthermore, the second article of the basic education law, the philosophy of education, should be replaced with the preamble of the constitution because the latter shows the aim of Korean education more nicely that the former.

President pledges to observe the constitution in the oath of office. The observance of the constitution is not only for the constitutional court or president, but also for all public servants, including lawmakers, and all citizens. People`s greatest duty is the observance of the constitution. It is not simply an issue of knowledge on constitution. If one does not know the spirit of the constitution, one is disqualified to become a citizen. When a foreigner obtains Korean citizenship, an education on the constitution should be required.

Choi Dae-Kwon (Professor of the Seoul National University, Constitutional Law)