Roh proposes debate on two four-year presidential terms

President Roh Moo-hyun on Tuesday issued a special statement, proposing a nationwide debate on a constitutional revision to change South Korea's presidential system from the current five-year single term to a four-year one with the possibility for reelection.

In South Korea, a constitutional amendment enacted in 1987 bars the president from seeking a second term in office.

"I propose the introduction of a four-year two-term presidency through the amendment of the Constitution. It's time to change the current five-year single-term presidency introduced in 1987 to prevent extended rules by authoritarian military governments," Roh said in the statement.

"The two-term presidency is expected to resolve a lot of drawbacks associated with the single-term presidency, which include the absence of policy consistency and continuity and the responsible management of state affairs."

The president also noted that the mismatch between the five-year presidential term and the National Assembly's four-year term has thus far resulted in a waste of national energy and resources, as well as unnecessary political conflict and confrontations.

"Matching the presidential term with the parliamentarian term has long been discussed in various domestic circles. But constitutional revision is nearly impossible under the next administration, as the tenures of the next National Assembly and president are to end in May of 2012 and February of 2013, respectively."

Roh then stressed that the year 2007 will thus offer the only opportunity in 20 years to match the presidential and parliamentary tenures. The presidential polls are slated for December of this year, while the National Assembly elections are scheduled to take place in April 2008.

The introduction of two four-year terms for the presidency was one of President Roh's campaign pledges ahead of the 2002 presidential election. The nation adopted the single five-year presidential term as a measure to prevent a monopoly of power under previous authoritarian governments.

Seoul, Jan. 9 (Yonhap News)