Speaker says presidents must get Assembly's consent before imposing martial law
National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik said Wednesday that the Constitution should be amended to include requiring the Assembly's consent before martial law can be imposed by the president.
"Martial law decree should necessitate the Assembly's approval. We saw how it can be a problem that the Assembly doesn't have the power to prevent it," Woo said at a press conference.
The current Constitution stipulates that a martial law decree by the president must go through the Cabinet, but not the Assembly.
Regarding a timeline for amendments, Woo said a public conversation among the parties, government and people would be necessary.
Updating the Constitution had been a key agenda item for presidential candidates this election.
As a candidate, President Lee Jae-myung floated changing the Constitution to allow presidents to serve two consecutive terms. South Korean presidents serve a single term of five years without the possibility of a second.
People Power Party candidate Kim Moon-soo had proposed slashing the executive branch's authorities to balance with the legislative and judicial branches.
Woo also said that once the two parties' new leadership is sworn in, he would convene a parliamentary ethics committee to deliberate on expelling Rep. Lee Jun-seok of the third New Reform Party from the Assembly.
An online petition on the Assembly's website calling for the third-party lawmaker to be expelled had garnered over 500,000 signatures in less than a week after being posted, as of Wednesday.
Expelling a lawmaker requires a two-thirds consent of the Assembly under the Constitution.
Lee, who had run as the New Reform Party's presidential candidate, came under scrutiny for quoting inappropriate sexual remarks allegedly made by his then-Democratic Party opponent's son during a televised debate.
Lee has since apologized for his remarks, saying he regretted them.
Before Woo was elected the Assembly's speaker in June 2024, he had been a five-time lawmaker with the Democratic Party of Korea.
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