Woo Won-sik, Speaker of the National Assembly: "Now is the time for constitutional amendment... The President's will is firm"

[Financial News] Speaker of the National Assembly Woo Won-sik reiterated the need for a constitutional amendment on the 27th, describing the current constitution as an 'old constitution.'  
Speaker Woo appeared on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' interview that day and said, "Now is the time for a constitutional amendment."
In response to a question about whether President Lee Jae-myung's will is important, Speaker Woo said, "President Lee's will is clear, and during the last presidential election, all candidates pledged constitutional amendments as part of their platforms," reaffirming President Lee's commitment to constitutional amendment. He added, "I believe we can open the door to constitutional amendment as much as possible." 
Speaker Woo set the launch date for the constitutional amendment committee, which is necessary to initiate the work required for the amendment, around late September to early October.
Regarding this, Speaker Woo explained the background of setting the launch date, saying, "I thought the time when the government, which started without a transition committee, stabilizes and the U.S.-led tariff negotiation issue given to us is roughly settled would be around mid to late September." 
In addition, Speaker Woo argued that "there is no need to create another advisory committee since the constitutional amendment advisory committee has already been established and the advisory draft is ready from the previous Yoon Seok-yeol administration," and emphasized the need for a constitutional amendment that involves the public through nationwide discussions and gathering public opinions. 
Speaker Woo stressed that trying to handle all constitutional amendment proposals at once would only lead to disagreements, and emphasized the importance of opening the door to constitutional amendment through as much consensus as possible. He pointed out, "The first stage includes parts that can be agreed upon without disagreement, such as including the May 18th Constitution preamble, National Assembly approval for martial law declaration, transferring the Board of Audit and Inspection to the National Assembly, and local autonomy decentralization, which are all basic rights of the people." 
When asked about the possibility of including the four-year presidential term and runoff voting system in the constitutional amendment, Speaker Woo said, "There is strong public opinion for the four-year term," but added, "It's not about long-term rule; it's about serving another term immediately after one term." 
Meanwhile, Speaker Woo stated that the amendment of the National Referendum Act must precede this constitutional amendment push. He said, "The national referendum must be held together with public elections to increase the voter turnout to over 50%, but there is no early voting for national referendums, and the voting age is not 18." He pointed out, "We need to adjust the voting age, align early voting, and address the voting rights of our overseas compatriots." 

gowell@fnnews.com Kim Hyung-gu Reporter