President Lee Jae-myung Says "My Term Is Constitutionally Limited"... First Public Remark

[Anchor]

Regarding the recent political controversy surrounding a constitutional amendment for consecutive presidential terms, President Lee Jae-myung stated that his term is clearly restricted by the Constitution. This marks the first time President Lee has publicly addressed the issue, and expectations are rising that he may soon voice his stance on major pending issues such as constitutional reform.

Reporter Kang Cheongwan has the details.

[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 for scheduling many overseas trips early in his term is to help boost economic cooperation, President Lee made the following remarks regarding his tenure.

[President Lee Jae-myung: I have currently arranged to make many overseas visits early in my inauguration. Anyway, since my term is clearly limited by the Constitution, ultimately, we need to start (summit diplomacy) quickly so that we can enjoy its effects for a long time.]

This is the first time President Lee has directly and publicly mentioned the issue of his term since the debate grew centered around the political sphere regarding the possibility of a constitutional amendment that would allow the incumbent president to serve consecutive terms.

Sung Ki-hong, Senior Secretary to the President for Public Relations and Communication, explained that President Lee expressed his stance that his own consecutive term 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 stating that a consecutive term itself is entirely out of the question and cannot even be considered.]

Article 128 of the Constitution stipulates that a constitutional amendment for extending or changing the president's term to allow 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 provision regarding constitutional reform when he was a presidential candidate last year.

[President Lee Jae-myung (then presidential candidate (May 18 of last year)): It is also explicitly stated 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 stated, "Let us change the presidential term to a four-year system allowing consecutive terms or re-election to enable responsible politics," but did not separately mention the issue of his own consecutive term.

There are also projections that President Lee, having returned to South Korea after wrapping up his state visit to France, could soon directly state his position on constitutional reform and other issues through a press conference or similar formats.

(Camera and video reporting: Jung Sang-bo, Yoon Hyung | Video editing: Wi Won-yang | Design: Han Heung-soo)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.