Lee Urges Constitutional Reform to Honor Korea’s Democracy Movements

President Lee Jae Myung urged South Korea’s National Assembly on Friday to begin work on a constitutional revision that would formally recognize the spirit of two landmark pro-democracy movements.

Lee made the appeal in a speech marking the 47th anniversary of the Buma Democratic Uprising, the 1979 protests in Busan and Masan against the authoritarian government of then President Park Chung-hee. He said the Constitution’s preamble should reflect both the Buma uprising and the Gwangju democratization movement.

The president described that recognition as a minimum step needed to preserve the history of people who defended democracy and popular sovereignty. He asked lawmakers to start gathering public opinion and holding what he called reasonable discussions on constitutional reform.

The proposal places responsibility for opening the formal debate on the legislature. Any effort to amend the Constitution would require lawmakers to address both the language of a proposed revision and the broader process for securing public agreement. Lee’s remarks did not set out a timetable or detailed wording, but they clearly identified recognition of the two democracy movements as a priority.

The Buma uprising began in October 1979, when citizens and students protested authoritarian rule in the southeastern cities of Busan and Masan. The commemoration provided the setting for Lee to connect that movement with the later Gwangju democratization movement and to argue that both should be embedded in the country’s foundational legal text.

Lee’s request revives constitutional reform as an active political issue while focusing the immediate case for revision on national memory. Rather than announcing an executive proposal, he called for the National Assembly to lead consultation and deliberation. That approach leaves the scope of any eventual amendment, as well as its political feasibility, to negotiations among lawmakers and engagement with the public.

The call also gives the anniversary a contemporary institutional dimension. By seeking language in the preamble, Lee is asking that the democratic meaning attached to the Buma and Gwangju movements be stated as part of the constitutional account of the republic. Whether that proposal advances will depend on the legislature’s willingness to begin the public-opinion process and build agreement around a specific text.