President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is undergoing his impeachment trial, gave his final defense at the Constitutional Court on Tuesday. Yonhap
President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is undergoing his impeachment trial, gave his final defense at the Constitutional Court on Tuesday. Yonhap

The ruling People Power Party upped calls for revising the Constitution to reduce the length of presidential terms for the second day Thursday, backing President Yoon Suk Yeol's proposal made in his final defense at the Constitutional Court on Tuesday.

Ruling party Chair Rep. Kwon Young-se said at a meeting of the party's leadership that Yoon set the stage for a national discussion about reducing the time a president can hold office as a way of increasing checks and balances on presidential authority.

"The president opened up a new debate for political reform through a revision of the Constitution, which was last amended in 1987. I think the president's proposal is sincere. He showed he would be willing to put himself out of office," Kwon, who was Yoon's minister for inter-Korean affairs, said.

Kwon said while it is up to the court to make a judgment on the legitimacy of Yoon's imposition of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024, the president proposing to take on political reform appeared to be one of the "constructive ways forward."

"I think it is crucial that we take this opportunity to reform the Constitution and the power structure governing this country," the People Power Party chair said.

Kwon said Yoon made a "sincere apology" to the people at the Constitutional Court hearing on Tuesday.

Taking a jab at the opposition, Kwon said the Democratic Party of Korea was abusing its majority power in the National Assembly, unilaterally pushing its own agenda without bipartisan consensus.

In a National Assembly plenary session Thursday, a Democratic Party-led bill opened a special counsel investigation into a political scandal involving a "power broker," who allegedly tweaked poll results in favor of Yoon in the election he won.

The Democratic Party, which slammed Yoon's Tuesday defense as "unapologetic," has remained mum on the presidential power reform proposed by the president and now embraced by the ruling party.

Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's chair and a de facto presidential frontrunner, said ending the "ongoing insurrection," referring to Yoon's botched martial law imposition, was the party's priority at the moment.

Kim Boo-kyum, former prime minister under the last Democratic Party President Moon Jae-in, told reporters after a meeting with Lee that the Democratic Party chair said "now was the time to focus on impeaching Yoon," when asked about his thoughts on the reform of presidential power.

A senior official of the Democratic Party told The Korea Herald that the People Power Party was thought to be "trying to divert attention away" from the impeachment trial of the party's president, Yoon, by fanning the debate on political reform.

Unlike the Democratic Party, which is rallying around Lee ahead of a probable presidential by-election later this year, the People Power Party has not officially recognized the possibility of an election or Yoon being removed from office.

Han Dong-hoon, the former People Power Party chair, claimed in his new tell-all book that Yoon asked the ruling party to strike down impeachment resolutions against him in the aftermath of his martial law debacle.

"The president did not seem to have any intentions to give up his office willingly," Han wrote.


arin@heraldcorp.com