President Lee Jae-myung: "My Term is Constitutionally Limited"... First Public Remarks

[Anchor]

Regarding recent political controversies surrounding a constitutional amendment for consecutive terms, President Lee Jae-myung stated that his term is clearly limited by the Constitution. This marks the first time President Lee has publicly addressed the issue, and outlooks suggest he may soon express his stance on major pending issues such as constitutional reform.

[Reporter] Kang Cheongwan reports.

[Reporter]

Meeting with local Korean residents yesterday (the 9th), on the final day of his state visit to France, President Lee Jae-myung.

Explaining that the reason he planned many foreign trips early in his term is because it helps economic cooperation, President Lee remarked as follows regarding his term in office.

[President Lee Jae-myung: I have currently scheduled many overseas visits for the early stage of my inauguration. In any case, because my term is clearly limited by the Constitution, we ultimately have to start (summit diplomacy) quickly so that we can enjoy its effects for a long time.]

Following the recent surge in political controversy over the possibility of a constitutional amendment that would allow the incumbent president to serve consecutive terms, this is the first time President Lee has directly and publicly mentioned the issue of his term.

Sung Ki-hong, Senior Secretary to the President for Public Relations and Communication, explained that President Lee was stating his position that a consecutive term for himself is impossible.

[Sung Ki-hong / Senior Secretary to the President for Public Relations and Communication (MBC Radio's Kim Jong-bae's Focus): I interpret his remarks as saying that consecutive terms themselves are entirely out of the question and cannot even be considered.]

Article 128 of the Constitution stipulates that a constitutional amendment for extending or altering the president's term or for allowing consecutive terms shall not be effective for the president who is in office at the time of the proposal for such constitutional amendment.

President Lee also mentioned this constitutional provision regarding constitutional reform during his presidential campaign last year.

[President Lee Jae-myung (then presidential candidate (May 18 of last year)): It is also specified in the supplementary provisions of the current Constitution that a constitutional amendment does not apply to the president in office at the time.]

Through social media, President Lee previously suggested, "Let's change the president's term to a four-year renewable system or a four-year consecutive term system to enable responsible politics," but did not separately mention the issue of his own consecutive term.

Outlooks also suggest that President Lee, having returned to South Korea after wrapping up his state visit to France, may soon directly state his position on constitutional reform and other matters through a press conference or similar formats.

(Video by: Jung Sang-bo, Yoon Hyung | Video Editing by: Wee Won-yang | Graphics by: Han Heung-soo)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.