Kim Min-seok: Constitutional Amendment to the Extent Desired by the Public... Proposes 'Housing New Deal'

[Anchor]

In a negotiation group speech at the National Assembly today, Democratic Party Representative Kim Min-seok stated that he will pursue a realistic constitutional amendment based on public consensus. Representative Kim also criticized height restrictions near the National Assembly and the Supreme Court as a "product of the authoritarian era."

Reporter Kim Kwan-jin has the details.

[Reporter]

Delivering his first negotiation group speech at the National Assembly since taking office, Democratic Party Representative Kim Min-seok announced that he will pursue a "realistic constitutional amendment reflecting changing times and public demands."

Regarding the scope of the constitutional amendment, he stated:

[Kim Min-seok / Representative, Democratic Party: Including the May 18 Democratization Movement and the Buma Democratic Struggle in the preamble of the Constitution is the starting point for amendment, and the restructuring of power can go as far as the public desires.]

Last July, National Assembly Speaker Cho Jung-shik sparked major controversy by remarking that "constitutional amendment allowing consecutive terms for the incumbent president is a matter of public choice." Kim's remarks are interpreted as a cautious stance to gauge public opinion before determining the scope of the amendment, seemingly mindful of that controversy.

Regarding political reform, he proposed initiating full-scale discussions on easing the requirements for negotiation group membership, and added the following idea:

[Kim Min-seok / Representative, Democratic Party: Instead of grandiose political reforms, let's simply mix our seating arrangements in the plenary session. How about sitting in alphabetical order by name rather than by political party?]

On real estate issues, Representative Kim stated that the goal of housing policy goes beyond price stabilization to resolving housing issues, and proposed the implementation of a "Housing New Deal" to dramatically increase housing budgets.

Regarding the expansion of housing supply, he suggested high-density, mixed-use development around subway station areas and semi-industrial zones, as well as discussing ways to utilize sites proposed by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, such as water reclamation centers.

[Kim Min-seok / Representative, Democratic Party: Height restrictions near the National Assembly and the Supreme Court are also products of the authoritarian era.]

In response to Representative Kim's speech, the People Power Party criticized him, stating, "If you want to amend the Constitution, you can just get President Lee Jae-myung to declare that he will not seek a consecutive term," and "This is an attempt to 'change the signboard' without apologizing for real estate policy failures."

(Photo: Yonhap News / Video reporting: Oh Young-chun, Kim Yong-woo, Video editing: Oh Young-taek, Design: Lee Jong-jung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.