South Korea’s main dude running for president, Lee Jae-myung, came up with this wild idea to change the constitution and make the prez only serve four years with a two-term limit. He thinks this will help keep things in check and spread out the power a bit. The proposal is happening right before South Koreans are getting ready to pick their next leader in a quickie election following the booting out of ex-prez Yoon Suk-yeol.
Latest surveys show that Lee, the pick of the opposition Democratic Party, is ahead in the race with a whopping 51 per cent support rate for the June 3 showdown. In a Facebook post on Sunday, Lee said, “Let’s make the president more accountable and decentralise power.” He believes that having a four-year, two-term presidency will let people check in on how things are going halfway through, which will make the government more accountable.
During an event in Gwangju, Lee chatted with reporters about how the constitution doesn’t allow for a prez to change their own term limits, according to Yonhap News. This is probably to shut down any rumors that he’s trying to rig things in his favor. Lee also tossed out some ideas to give more power to parliament, like putting limits on the prez’s ability to veto laws and making it necessary for parliament to give the thumbs up for declaring martial law. In his Facebook post, Lee mentioned, “If we hurry up with these talks, we might be able to ask folks what they want in the 2026 local elections, or maybe in the 2028 general elections if things get delayed.”
