Holding 1st Cabinet meeting in Sejong, Lee stresses regional development for sustainable growth

The Cabinet on Tuesday confirmed plans to seek a constitutional amendment that would allow South Korean presidents to serve two four-year terms, placing the proposal at the top of the Lee Jae Myung administration's 123-item policy agenda.

Under the blueprint, presidents would be able to serve two four-year terms, with an incumbent being only eligible to run for reelection immediately after the end of their first term. So far, since 1987, South Korea's democratically elected presidents have been allowed to serve a single five-year term.

The amendment would also introduce a two-round system for presidential elections, in which the presidency goes to the candidate receiving the most votes in a runoff between the top two contenders from the first round. South Korea currently uses a single-round system.

The National Assembly, where the liberal Democratic Party of Korea holds a majority, would seek legislation through a newly-established special committee, while the government would submit its opinion to the legislative body. Passing a constitutional amendment requires two-thirds support in a vote of all lawmakers.

Tuesday's blueprint also showed that a referendum on the constitutional amendment is expected to take place alongside either the 2026 local elections or the 2028 general election. Under the current Constitution, Lee's presidential term is set to end in 2030.

South Korea has not amended its Constitution since 1987. For an amendment approved by parliament to take effect, it must also receive a majority of the vote in a national referendum in which at least half of eligible voters participate.

The blueprint, on the other hand, proposed ways to curtail the power of the South Korean president. The presidential power to veto a bill passed by parliament would be reduced, while the National Assembly would have the power to recommend candidates for prime minister and to approve appointees to positions that require political neutrality.

The policy blueprint proposed in August by the president's de facto transition team, the State Affairs Planning Committee, was reported to the Cabinet meeting presided over by Lee on Tuesday. The liberal government had yet to unveil the proposed timeframe for the amendment until Tuesday's meeting.

At the meeting, Lee said the policy blueprint would serve as a "compass to change the lives of the people."

This was the first Cabinet meeting Lee has presided over in the de facto administrative capital Sejong, which is about 120 kilometers south of Seoul.

Another key measure in the constitutional amendment proposal is the official designation of Sejong as the administrative capital and a newly-established body to ensure greater local autonomy and regional growth.

At the Cabinet meeting, Lee stressed that the foundation for sustainable national growth is the rebalancing of national development through the so-called "quintpolar system," in which growth is buttressed by metropolitan areas surrounding major cities in five key regions.

South Korea will no longer concentrate its scarce resources on one region -- the so-called "unipolar system," under which South Korea's economic growth hinged on the growth of the Greater Seoul area, Lee said.

"This strategy was indeed quite efficient, but (the strategy) is now reaching its limits," Lee said.

"For the sustainable growth and development of South Korea, balanced national development is no longer a choice but a destiny," he also said.

Lee Jae Myung begins drive for 2-term presidency