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Kim Yong-tae, leader of the People Power Party's emergency committee, speaks during a meeting of the party's Central Election Committee at the National Assembly on May 19, saying, "Someone claimed that a cup of coffee sells for 8,000 to 10,000 won while the cost is just 120 won. That makes it sound like small coffee business owners are making excessive profits." / Source: Yonhap News

People Power Party's (PPP) emergency committee leader Kim Yong-tae on May 19 accused Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung of pushing a constitutional amendment for a four-year presidential term with re-election as a means to ensure his party's long-term grip on power.

Speaking at a Central Election Committee meeting held at the National Assembly, Kim argued, “It may look like a plan to decentralize power, but in reality, it's designed to weaken checks on the executive branch and concentrate legislative authority in the hands of the majority party.”

Kim continued, “The stated purpose is to fix the imperial presidency, but if you examine the details, it's not about sharing power—it’s about redesigning the power structure to favor political advantage.”

Nae Kyung-won, a co-chair of the PPP election committee, echoed the criticism, warning the public not to fall for what she called a “Putin-style long-term power grab.” She said, “Previously, Lee spoke of a two-term system, but now he talks about 're-election.' Those two syllables—re-election—carry the shadow of Putin.”

She added, “A two-term limit allows only one re-election, capping a presidency at eight years. But ‘re-election’ is a misleading term that enables long-term rule—just as Russian President Vladimir Putin used it to pave the way for de facto lifetime control.”

Co-chair Yoon Jae-ok also weighed in, calling Lee’s proposal “a self-contradictory amendment that sounds appealing in theory but completely contradicts his and his party’s actions in practice.”