Constitutional revision to be Lee's top priority: presidential committee
Rep. Jo Seoung-lae, the committee's spokesperson, told a briefing that amending the Constitution will be included in the Lee administration's agenda.
As a candidate, Lee had said that he would consider revising the Constitution to allow presidents to serve more than a single term. Under the current Constitution, which was last revised in 1987, presidents serve a single, five-year term, without the possibility of reelection.
The administration and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea-led push to strip the public prosecution service of its investigative authority could also require a constitutional amendment, as the role of prosecutors in the country's criminal justice system is defined in the Constitution. The prosecution currently holds both powers of investigation and indictment.
The committee is set to hold a meeting with pro-constitutional amendment activists and experts to gather outside opinions, according to Jo.
The 55-member State Affairs Planning Committee was launched in June to act as a transition team for the first two months of the administration. Lee took office immediately after Election Day without a transition period. It is similar to the now-disbanded National Planning Committee, which had operated under former President Moon Jae-in from May to July 2017.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
![[Editorial] Tax reform misstep](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fall-logos-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fkoreaherald.com.png&w=48&q=75){kind=small}
Korea Herald
4 hours ago
- Korea Herald
[Editorial] Tax reform misstep
Misguided tax policies threaten to derail South Korea's fragile market rebound The Lee Jae Myung administration's first major tax reform was intended to tackle rising fiscal pressures and address long-standing structural imbalances in South Korea's tax regime. Instead, it has rattled markets, drawn criticism from global financial institutions and exposed fractures within the ruling party. On Friday, just a day after the blueprint's release, the benchmark Kospi and tech-heavy Kosdaq indices each fell by around 4 percent, a sharp reversal for markets that had only recently begun to regain momentum. Investor sentiment, already tentative, swiftly deteriorated. At the heart of the controversy are two measures: raising the top corporate tax rate by 1 percentage point to 25 percent and lowering the threshold for capital gains taxation on large shareholders from 5 billion won ($3.6 million) to 1 billion won. These proposals would reverse cuts introduced under the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration and are projected to raise 8.2 trillion won in additional revenue next year. Yet the backlash has been swift and pointed. Critics have highlighted the reform's poor timing, lack of strategic coherence and a clear disconnect from the government's stated goal of capital market revitalization. CLSA described the measures as 'only sticks, no carrots.' Citigroup downgraded Korean equities in its emerging markets portfolio, citing misalignment with Korea's "value-up" initiative. JPMorgan similarly warned that any credible rerating of Korean stocks would require more than cosmetic shifts in policy. The irony is difficult to overlook. An administration that campaigned on market revitalization — pledging, no less, to drive the Kospi to 5,000 points — now finds itself accused of undermining its own narrative. Markets reacted unequivocally. Within a single trading session, 116 trillion won in market capitalization was wiped out. This erosion of household and institutional wealth is not merely symbolic; brokerages estimate it could shave more than 8 trillion won off future consumption. Political consequences have been just as swift. At least 13 lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea have raised objections, while senior party figures have contradicted one another over whether the capital gains threshold should be reconsidered. Compounding the confusion are mixed signals from the presidential office, which have further heightened investor anxiety. Such incoherence is particularly damaging in a market where foreign investors account for nearly a third of all trading volume. These stakeholders depend not just on fundamentals, but on clarity, consistency and credible policymaking. Many observers argue the reforms stray from international norms. The dual imposition of capital gains and transaction taxes is widely viewed as excessive, particularly in comparison to major markets that opt for one or the other. The revised threshold for large shareholders is also seen as overly aggressive. Meanwhile, long-promised dividend tax relief has proved underwhelming, as it is narrowly targeted and still capped at a steep 35 percent, well above the 25 percent ceiling proposed in April by Democratic Party lawmaker Lee So-young. More fundamentally, the reform poses a critical question: Must fiscal consolidation come at the expense of market stability? In an open, export-driven economy exposed to global volatility, US tariffs and rising geopolitical risk, abrupt shifts in tax policy could alienate the very investors South Korea seeks to attract. President Lee is right to stress the importance of fiscal discipline. But credibility rests not only on budget arithmetic — it also depends on coherence. South Korea needs tax reform. What it does not need is a policy lurch that unsettles markets, contradicts strategic priorities and undercuts investor trust. If the Lee administration is serious about building a more dynamic, investment-friendly economy, it must steer clear of ad hoc reversals and restore clarity to its reform agenda.
Korea Herald
17 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Ruling party lawmaker accused of trading stocks under someone else's name
South Korea's ruling Democratic Party of Korea launched an internal probe Tuesday after a senior lawmaker was photographed appearing to trade stocks under someone else's name during a parliamentary session. This sparked speculations that the lawmaker might have failed to fulfill his duty to declare assets as a public official. Local media published an image showing Rep. Lee Choon-suak, chair of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, using his phone to access trading windows for Naver and LG CNS shares. The account name did not match his, prompting allegations of borrowed-name trading. Rep. Joo Jin-woo of the main opposition People Power Party said he would file a criminal complaint, accusing Lee of violating the Real-Name Financial Transactions Act and the Public Service Ethics Act. 'Borrowed-name stock trading is a serious crime that exploits retail investors,' Joo said, adding that omitting such assets from mandatory disclosures could call Lee's qualifications into question. The Legislation and Judiciary Committee is considered one of the most influential in South Korea's Assembly, serving as the final gatekeeper for bills heading to a plenary vote at regular sessions. The Democratic Party's ethics oversight panel will lead the internal inquiry.
Korea Herald
19 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Lee offers condolences to Korean atomic bomb victims ahead of 80th anniversary of Hiroshima bombing
President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday offered his condolences to the Korean nuclear bomb victims, a day before Japan's Hiroshima marks the 80th anniversary of the devastating 1945 atomic bombing of the city. In a Facebook post, Lee wrote, "I express my deepest condolences and sympathy to the victims of the atomic bombing and their families who were caught in the tumult of history and suffered unimaginable pain in a place that was not their homeland but in a foreign land. "The two atomic bombs that dropped on Japan 80 years ago claimed countless lives in an instant," he said. "Our fellow Koreans in Japan also endured immense suffering, and the victims and their bereaved families have been suffering for a long time." He noted that a special law enacted in 2017 to support the Korean victims laid the foundation for practical assistance but acknowledged that much remains to be done. The government will continue efforts to "heal the scars left by the atomic bombings," Lee said. Around 50,000 Koreans fell victim to the atomic bombing, including 30,000 killed, after many were brought to Japan to work as forced laborers during its 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, according to the Korea Atomic Bombs Victim Association. (Yonhap)
