Speaker Woo calls for constitutional vote during June local elections

Mar 11, 2026, 08:24 am

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National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik holds an emergency press conference on constitutional reform at the National Assembly Speaker’s reception room in Seoul on March 10. / Lee Byung-hwa

National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik proposed holding a constitutional referendum alongside the June 3 local elections, calling on political parties to begin a phased constitutional reform process based on issues that have already gained bipartisan agreement.

Speaking at an emergency press briefing at the National Assembly on March 10, Woo said recent revisions to the National Referendum Act had removed procedural barriers to constitutional reform.

“With the revision of the referendum law, procedural obstacles to constitutional amendment have been resolved,” Woo said. “I propose holding the referendum at the same time as the local elections. If we miss this moment, it may be difficult to know when another opportunity will come.”

Woo emphasized that the reform should proceed step by step rather than through a sweeping revision of the Constitution. He argued that past attempts at comprehensive constitutional reform repeatedly failed because lawmakers tried to address too many issues at once.

“Comprehensive constitutional reform has failed time and again,” he said. “Instead of repeating the cycle of trying to do everything at once and achieving nothing, we should clearly move forward with only what has already been agreed upon.”

Woo also suggested strengthening the National Assembly’s authority to prevent the abuse of emergency powers, including illegal declarations of martial law.

He said public opinion strongly supports a constitutional provision requiring that martial law be immediately invalidated if the National Assembly demands its lifting or if parliamentary approval is not obtained within 48 hours of its declaration.

The speaker also proposed including the spirit of the April 19 pro-democracy movement and broader democratization movements in the Constitution’s preamble, arguing that doing so would further reinforce the country’s democratic principles.

Woo noted that both ruling and opposition parties have already promised to include the spirit of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement in the Constitution.

He called on party leaders to establish a special parliamentary committee on constitutional reform by March 17. To hold the referendum alongside the June local elections, a constitutional amendment proposal would need to be formally introduced by April 7, he said.

#Woo Won-shik #constitutional amendment #referendum #local elections