Speaker Cho Jeong-sik: “Incumbent President Cannot Serve Consecutive Terms”

On the 11th, National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik ruled out the possibility of an incumbent president serving consecutive terms through a constitutional amendment. He clearly rejected claims, mainly from the conservative opposition, that the push for an amendment was intended to allow President Lee Jae Myung to serve a consecutive term. Cho sees next year as the right time to discuss constitutional revision. He also said the threshold for the Comprehensive Real Estate Holding Tax for owners of a single home who do not live in it should be adjusted reasonably.
At a Kwanhun Club debate held that day at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, Cho said he would pursue a constitutional amendment and named as one of its principles that “an incumbent president cannot serve consecutive terms.”
“As stipulated in Article 128, Paragraph 2 of the Constitution, an incumbent president’s serving consecutive terms is not up for discussion as part of a constitutional amendment,” he said. “We should no longer make this an object of political strife.”
Cho previously sparked controversy when he said that the issue of amending the Constitution to allow an incumbent president to serve consecutive terms was “a matter of public opinion and the people’s choice as sovereign” at his first press conference since taking office, held at the National Assembly in July.
Cho said that day, “I did not mean in my remarks at the press conference that I was leaving open (the possibility of consecutive terms), but as a politician, I am sorry that they unintentionally caused misunderstanding and controversy.”
Cho also made clear that he would pursue a constitutional amendment led by the National Assembly. He announced that a Constitutional Amendment Advisory Committee directly under the National Assembly speaker would be launched soon. He left all possibilities open, saying a referendum on the amendment could be held next year or alongside the 2028 general election.
That day, Cho also gave his view on the ongoing debate within the government and ruling party over the Comprehensive Real Estate Holding Tax for owners of a single home who do not live in it. “I think anything that should be adjusted reasonably should be adjusted,” he said. “People lead all kinds of different lives, and if this is handled mechanically, things could be left out in the process.”
[email protected] Kim Hyeong-gu Reporter